JNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

JULLETIN, 1912: NO. 30 - - - - - - WHOLE NUMBER 504 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES 
AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 



By EDGAR EWING BRANDON 

VICE PRESIDENT OP MJAMl UNIVERSITY 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1913 



Monograph 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

(Titles abridged.) 

1906. 

No. 1. The education bill of 1906 for England and Wales. Anna Tohuan Smith. 

No. 2. German views of American education. William N. Hailmann. 

No. 3. State school systems: October 1, 1904, to October 1, 1906. E. C. Elliott. 

1907. 

No. 1. The continuation school in the United States. Arthur J. Jones. 

No. 2. Agricultural education. James Ralph Jewell. 

No. 3. Auxiliary schools of Germany. B. Maennel. Translated by F. B. DreSSlnr. 

No. 4. The elimination of pupils from school. Edward L. Thorndike. 

1908. 

No. 1. On the training of persons to teach agriculture. L. EL Bailey. 

No. 2. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1867-1907. 

No. 3. Bibliography of education for 1907. J. I. Wyer, jr., and Martha L. Phelps. 

No. 4. Music education in the United States. Arthur L. Manchester. 

No. 5. Education in Formosa. Julean H. Arnold, American consul at Tamsui. 

No. 6. The apprenticeship system. Carroll D. Wright. 

No. 7. State school systems: October 1, 1906, to October 1, 1908. E. C. Elliott. 

No. 8. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1907-8. 

1909. 

No. 1. Facilities for study and research in Washington. Arthur T. Hadley. 

No. 2. Admission of Chinese students to American universities. John Fryer. 

No. 3. Daily meals of school children. Caroline L. Hunt. 

No. 4. The teaching staff of secondary schools. Edward L. Thorndike. 

No. 5. Statistics of public, society, and school libraries in 1908. 

No. 6. Instruction iu the fine and manual arts. Henry Turner Bailey. 

No. 7. Index to the Reports of the Commissioner of Education, 1867-1907. 

No. 8. A teacher's professional library. Classified list of 100 titles. 

No. 9. Bibliography of education for 1908-9. 

No. 10. Education for efficiency in railroad service. J. Shirley Eaton. 

No. 11. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1908-9. 

. 1910. 

No. 1. Reform in teaching religion in Saxony. Arley Barthlow Show. 

No. 2. State school systems : October 1, 1908, to October 1, 1909. E. C. Elliott. 

No. 3. List of publications of the United States Bureau of Education, 1867-1910. 

No. 4. The biological stations of Europe. Charles Atwood Kofoid. 

No. 5. American schoolhouses. Fletcher B. Dresslar. 

No. 6. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1909-10. 

j 1911. 

No. 1. Bibliography of science teaching. 

No. 2. Opportunities for. graduate study in agriculture. A. C. Monahan. 

No. 3. Agencies for the improvement of teachers in service. W. C. Ruediger. 

No. 4. Report of the commission to study the public schools of Baltimore. 

No. 5. Age and grade census of schools and colleges. George Drayton Strayer. 

(Continued on p. 3 of cover.) 



UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

BULLETIN, 1912: NO. 30 WHOLE NUMBER 504 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES 
AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS 



By EDGAR EWING BRANDON 

VICE PRESIDENT OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1913 



w 



V 



r& 



D. OF D, 
MAR 1C 1913 



^ 



* 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Letter op Transmittal 7 

Prefatory Note 10 

PART I. UNIVERSITIES. 

Chapter I. — The Founding of Universities 11 

The first universities, 11; the second group, 12; development of legal studies, 
13; medical studies, 14; the sciences, 14; the third group, 15; professional 
faculties in Brazil, 15; other foundations, 16; reasons for multiplication of 
universities, 16; University of La Plata, 18. 

Chapter II. — Students, Studies, and Degrees 21 

Enrollment, 21; secondary schools, 22; the university faculties, 22; degrees 
and examinations, 23; academic honors, 24; methods, 25. 

Chapter III. — University Organization 26 

Professors and tenure of office, 26; teaching hours per week, 27; no teaching 
profession, 27; duties of a professor, 28; professional prestige, 29; methods 
of choosing a professor, 29; the substitute professor, 31; Government con- 
firmation, 31; decentralization in the universities, 31; departments 
scattered, 32; academies, 33; close relation between the university and 
secondary schools, 34; material contact, 34; movement in favor of pre- 
paratory schools, 35; the Chilean project, 36; the Uruguayan plan, 36. 

Chapter IV. — University Buildings 38 

Modem buildings for medical schools, 38; the engineering school, 39; modern 
buildings, 39. 

Chapter V. — Budgets and Salaries 41 

Reasons for favoring the universities, 41; annual budgets, 41; proportional 
cost and enrollment, 42; large teaching staff, 42; few teaching hours, 42; 
some comparisons, 43; the Uruguayan policy, 44. 

Chapter VI. — The Law Faculty 45 

Physical equipment and libraries, 45; organization, 46; curricula, 46; aims 
of the law school, 47; practical training minimized, 48; bar associations, 
49; general culture courses, 49; duration of studies and methods of- in- 
struction, 50; advantages of the law curriculum, 51; the La Plata plan, 52. 

Chapter VII. — Faculty of Medicine 53 

Equipment, 53; the faculty regulates the practice of medicine, 54; prepara- 
tion of professors, 54; hospital facilities, 55; curriculum, 55; duration of 
studies, 56; the subsidiary schools, 57; medical texts and libraries, 58; 
vacation schools, 58; two needed reforms, 59. 

Chapter VIII. — The Engineering Faculty 60 

Difficulties, 60; material equipment, 61; organization, 62; curricula, 63; 
class and laboratory, 64; enrollment, 65. 

Chapter IX. — Nonstate Institutions 66 

Colegio de Nuestra Sefiora del Rosario, 66; the Catholic University of Chile, 
67; Mackenzie College, 68. 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

PART II. SPECIAL EDUCATION. 

Page. 
Chapter X. — Normal Education 70 

Admission, 70; course of study, 71; observations on the curricula, 73; 
method and examinations, 74; organization and scholarships, 75; social 
position, 77; primary school and liceo, 78; a restriction, 78; personnel, 
78; secretary and professors, 79; practice teaching, 80; rented buildings, 
80; financial disadvantages, 81; State-owned buildings, 81; equipment, 
82; laboratories, 83; school museums, 83; higher and special normal 
education, 83; the Chilean Normal College, 84; foreign professors, 84; 
coeducation, 85; groups of studies, 85; Latin, 8G; building and equip- 
ment, 86; foreigner or native, 87; the Argentina higher normal school, 87; 
curriculum, 88; equipment, 89; a teachers' college in the university, 89; 
another teachers' college, 90; special normal schools, 91; the Alberdi 
School, 91. 

Chapter XL — Commercial Education 94 

Different systems, 95; the Chilean system, 95; curriculum, 95; interest in 
commercial education, 96; methods, 96; instructors, 97; the parent 
school, 97; the Argentine type, 98; a commercial high school, 98; schools 
of commerce, 99; commercial education in Brazil, 100; evening classes, 
101; in the other countries, 101; commercial studies in high schools, 101; 
private commercial colleges, 102; church schools, 102; general status of 
commercial education, 103. 

Chapter XII. — Agricultural Education 104 

Agricultural colleges, 105; expenditures for agricultural colleges, 106; dis- 
similarities in organization, 107; admission requirements, 108; curricu- 
lum, 108; two grades of titles, 110; the agricultural career, 111; primary 
agricultural schools, 110; number of schools, 111; physical equipment, 
111; course of study, 112; other types, 113; Indian schools, 113; an 
agricultural normal school, 114. 

Chapter XIII. — Industrial Education 115 

Progress in industrial education, 115; elementary industrial schools, 116; 
training for the trades, 116; equipment, 117; the school at Santiago de 
Chile, 117; curriculum, 118; history, 119; industrial education in Ar- 
gentina, 119; tuition fees and scholarships, 120; buildings and equip- 
ment, 121 ; the school at Buenos Aires, 121 ; industrial schools for women, 
122; different types, 122; patronage of the industrial schools, 123; a 
unique institution, 123; another unique type, 124. 

PART III. GENERAL EDUCATIONAL TOPICS. 

Chapter XIV.— Coeducation 126 

In the universities, 128; results, 129; an economic movement, 129; in 
industrial schools, 130; in commercial schools, 130; in normal schools, 130. 

Chapter XV. — Ancient Languages 132 

Chapter XVI. — Modern Languages 136 

In secondary education, 136; in the university, 136; in normal schools, 
137; in commercial schools, 137; reasons for foreign-language study, 138; 
method of instruction, 139. 

Chapter XVII. — School Texts 141 

Animosity to texts, 141; a needed reform, 142. 

Chapter XVIIL— Student Societies 144 

Index 149 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Plate 1. University of Venezuela, Caracas Frontispiece 

2A. Museum, La Plata, Argentina 14 

2B. New Palace of Fine Arts, Santiago, Chile ' 14 

3A. Principal facade of the new university building at Montevideo .. . 14 

3B. University of Chile, Santiago 14 

4A. A patio in the University of Caracas, Venezuela 14 

4B. Observatory in the Alameda, Quito, Ecuador 14 

5A. University of Cordoba, Argentina 14 

5B. Patio of San Marcos University, Lima, Peru •. 14 

6A. National Library, Rio de Janeiro 30 

6B. School of Fine Aits and Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro 30 

7A. Old seminary at San Jose, Costa Rica 30 

7B. Boys' High School, Rio de Janeiro 30 

8A. Patio of the Boys' High School at La Paz, Bolivia 30 

8B. The National College, Asuncion, Paraguay 30 

9A. "Salon de Actos, " University of Cordoba, Argentina 30 

9B. Reading room in the library of the university, Cordoba, Argentina. 30 

10A. Graduate school for men, Buenos Aires 46 

10B. Vestibule and patio of the amphitheater of the National Prepara- 
tory School, Mexico City 46 

11A. The Pernambuco (Brazil) Law School, approaching completion... 46 
11B. New building designed for the law department of the University 

of Buenos Aires, Argentina 46 

12A. A portal of the Law College, Guatemala City 46 

12B. The "Salon de Actos" of the Law College of the University of San 

Marcos, Lima, Peru 46 

13A. School of Medicine, Lima, Peru 54 

13B. School of Medicine, Guatemala City 54 

14A. Partial view of the National College at Rio de Janeiro 54 

14B. Anatomical Institution, Caracas, Venezuela 54 

15 A. Medical School, Buenos Aires, Argentina 54 

15B. Chemical Institute, Montevideo, Uruguay 54 

16A. Polytechnic School, Rio de Janeiro 62 

16B. Polytechnic School, Sao Paulo, Brazil 62 

17A. Facade of the Engineering School, University of Caracas, Vene- 
zuela 62 

17B. Old university building, now used for the School of Engineering, 

Montevideo, Uruguay 62 

18A. Preparatory school, Catholic University of Santiago, Chile 62 

18B. Mackenzie College, Sao Paulo, Brazil 62 

19A. Normal School No. 1 for Women, Buenos Aires, Argentina 78 

19B. Fete in the Modern Language Normal School, Buenos Aires 78 

20A. Facade of Normal School for Girls No. 3, Santiago, Chile 78 

20B. Group of students of the Normal School for Girls No. 1, Santiago, 

Chile 78 

21A. Facade of new Normal School for Girls, La Serena, Chile 78 

* 5 



6 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

Plate 21B. A patio in the same school 78 

22A. Front view of the new National Normal School, Cordoba. Argen- 
tina 78 

22B. Rear view of the same building 78 

23A. Normal School, Rio de Janeiro 78 

23B. Normal School, Sao Paulo, Brazil 78 

24A. Facade of the Normal School, Arequipa, Peru 78 

24B. Patio of the same school 78 

25A. High and Normal School for Girls, Guatemala City 78 

25B. Main entrance of the Provincial Normal School, Cordoba, Argen- 
tina 78 

26A. A covered patio in the Men's Normal School, Chilian, Chile 78 

26B. A group of students, Superior College for Young Ladies, San Jose, 

Costa Rica 78 

27A. Kindergarten, Sao Paulo, Brazil 86 

27B. Boys' High School, San Jose, Costa Rica 86 

28A. Normal School, Saltillo, State of Coahuila, Mexico 86 

28B. Model School, Itapetininga, Sao Paulo, Brazil 86 

29. College of La Paz, Mexico City 86 

30. School of Commerce, Sao Paulo, Brazil 100 

31A. Agricultural school, Piracicaba, Brazil 110 

31B. General Bittencourt Institute, Para, Brazil 110 

32A. Game of soccer, at the Agricultural College, Piracicaba, Brazil. . . . 110 

32B. Botanical laboratory in Agricultural College, Piracicaba, Brazil. . . . 110 

33 A. Facade of the recitation hall of the Indian school, La Paz 110 

33B. A group of pupils of the same school 110 

34A. Agricultural school, Sayago, Uruguay 110 

34B. School of Arts and Trades, Lima, Peru 110 

35A. Industrial School, Rosario, Argentina 120 

35B. National Industrial School, Buenos Aires, Argentina 120 

36A. School of arts and crafts for girls, La Serena, Chile 120 

36B. Iron foundry, School of Arts and Trades, Santiago, Chile. , 120 

37A. International Students' Conference. View of the conference in 

session, Lima, Peru J 44 

37B. International Students' Conference. Reception at the University 

of San Marcos 144 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL, 



Department or the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 
Washington, D. C, November 8, 191%. 

Sir : The relations between the United States and the Latin- Amer- 
ican Republics south of us are constantly becoming closer, and the 
subjects of common interest more numerous. With increase of com- 
mercial interests there should come a like increase in intellectual and 
cultural interests. The value of commercial relations between two 
countries is not measured in dollars and cents alone. The exchange 
of ideas, the feeling of interdependence, the sentiments of friendship, 
fellowship, and brotherhood, and the broader outlook and fuller and 
richer life which come to the people of both countries are, or should 
be, no less important than the exchange of the products of mines, 
fields, forests, and factories and the material wealth gained thereby. 

The highest ideals of a country are to be found in its universities 
and colleges, the home, of the best that has come down from the past, 
the birthplace of the best that is to go forth into the future. Estab- 
lished and controlled by the spirit of conservatism, they are the train- 
ing ground for the leaders in all lines of future progress. They are 
the power houses and transferring stations of civilization, in which 
new currents are generated and older currents and those generated 
elsewhere are transformed into the voltage required for the new 
work. Therefore, one learns the heart of a people most easily and 
most surely through a study of its colleges and universities. 

Already young men and young women of the South and Central 
American Republics are coming to the colleges and universities of 
this country for work in agriculture, mining, electrical engineering, 
economics, and such other subjects as they believe they can pursue 
with advantage here, and for the knowledge of our language, customs, 
laws, and civilization which they may gain at the same time. One 
or more bulletins have been issued already by this bureau for the in- 
struction of actual and prospective students of this kind. In like 
manner, American students should attend the colleges and universi- 
ties of these Republics in such numbers and to such an extent as will 
make common among our people a knowledge of the manners, ens- 



8 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 

toms, ideals, and the commercial and industrial possibilities of these 
peoples and countries, and furnish us a supply of men and women of 
ability and scholarship who are familiar with their language, history, 
literature, and traditions. 

Though the history, traditions, purposes, ideals, and forms of gov- 
ernment of our institutions of higher learning diifer widely from 
those of the colleges and universities of these Republics, yet these 
last have many lessons for us, and we have known and still know all 
too little of them. 

For these reasons I recommend that the accompanying manuscript, 
which is the result of a prolonged, careful, and intelligent study at 
first-hand of some of the more important colleges and universities 
of the Latin- American Republics, be published as a bulletin of this 
bureau. 

Respectfully submitted. 

P. P. Claxton, 

Commissioner. 

The Secretary of the Interior. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 

This volume is the result of personal observation and investigation. 
During the latter part of 1911 and the first part of 1912 I traveled in 
almost all the countries of Latin America, studying the institutions 
of higher and special education. I visited practically all the uni- 
versities and a great many normal, commercial, industrial, and agri- 
cultural schools, with the ambition of observing at first-hand their 
organization, administration, curricula, methods, and physical equip- 
ment. In addition to interviews with administrative officers, instruc- 
tors, and students I gathered all the printed matter available, such as 
official reports, curricula, laws, and statutes of the institutions, his- 
torical notes, university and student publications, and statistical 
memoranda. Even for institutions not visited I have had access in 
most cases to original official reports. It would therefore be useless 
to append a detailed bibliography, since it could only be an enumera- 
tion of university annuals and similar publications. 

In referring to universities I have consistently designated them by 
the name of the city in which they are located, although that is not 
always their official and corporate name. The ecclesiastical founda- 
tions of colonial times uniformly bore the name of a saint: San 
Marcos, at Lima ; San Felipe, at Santiago de Chile ; San Francisco 
Xavier, at Sucre, etc. In very few cases have the old names remained. 
Some institutions have received the name of the country, as the Uni- 
versity of Chile; others the name of the city, as University of Cor- 
doba. In order to avoid confusion and to indicate clearly the location 
of the institutions I have applied to each the name of the city. 

In giving the cost of buildings and apparatus, the salaries of in- 
structors, and in other cases when it is a question of money and prices, 
the figures uniformly indicate United States currency. It was not 
always possible to calculate accurately, since rates of exchange have 
varied in different years. The figures are designed principally for 
purposes of general comparison, and approximations were deemed 
sufficient. 

The present treatise lays no claim to completeness. It is a general 
survey of the whole wide subject of higher and special education in 
Latin America, and is given to the public in the hope of conveying a 
comprehensive idea of Latin-American educational institutions and 
of provoking more detailed studies in an interesting field. 

9 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AND SPECIAL 
SCHOOLS. 



PART I. UNIVERSITIES. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE FOUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES. 

The Spanish settlements in America were provided with the means 
of higher education with celerity equal to if not greater than that 
shown in the English colonies. In less than a half century from the 
date of the first, permanent settlement, schools for advanced educa- 
tion, as education was then regarded, had been established in due and 
permanent form, and by the end of the century there existed a chain 
of colleges or universities extending from Mexico and the West 
Indies to the southernmost colony of Argentina. From that time to 
the present, Spanish- America has been zealous in the establishment 
of institutions for training in the liberal professions, and during the 
past century Portuguese-America has kept pace with her neighbor. 
A brief survey of the circumstances under which the institutions were 
established is necessary to an appreciative understanding of their 
present status, methods, and accomplishments, since the motives for 
their foundation were as different as the eras that marked their birth. 

The first universities. — As regards their foundation Latin- Ameri- 
can universities fall naturally into three groups. The first comprises 
the colonial establishments. It is not easy to determine accurately 
the elate of the old universities. Three events were all important in 
the early history of each institution, namely, the sanction of the 
church, the royal charter, and the actual inauguration of academic 
studies ; the date of any one of these may be cited as the initial date of 
the institution. It is not surprising, therefore, that conflicting state- 
ments are found in authorities of equal value. The question is of 
little importance after all to the general student, since the variations 
are insignificant, and the date of the colonial universities may be 
stated approximately as follows: Mexico and Lima, 1551;. Santo 
Domingo, 1558; Bogota, 1572; Cordoba, 1613; Sucre, 1623; Guate- 
mala, about 1675; Cuzco, 1692; Caracas, 1721; Santiago de Chile. 
1738; Habana, 1782; Quito, 1787. 

11 



12 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

It is needless to look for individuality in these institutions. All 
owe their origin to the same influence, and their organization was 
essentially uniform. The church was the prime mover in their estab- 
lishment, although influential laymen holding high political posi- 
tions contributed notably to their foundation. The principal object 
of each university was to promote the cause of religion in the colo- 
nies by providing an educated clergy numerous enough to care for 
the spiritual welfare of the settlers and to further the work of evan- 
gelization among the natives. The central department of the insti- 
tution was the faculty of letters and philosophy, through which all 
students must pass on their way to the professional schools. The 
latter were exceedingly limited in the colonial university. There was 
a department of civil and canon law, but the former was over- 
shadowed in the ecclesiastical organization of the institution, and 
had to await the era of national independence before coming to its 
own. The university usually contained a professorship of medicine, 
but prior to the nineteenth century it was the medicine of the 
medieval school men, academic and empirical. The one professional 
school that flourished was the faculty of theology. It was for it that 
the university was created, and to it led all academic avenues. 

Clerical in its origin and purpose, the colonial university was also 
clerical in its government. Theoretically the corporation enjoyed 
large autonomy, since it formulated its rules and regulations, chose 
its officers, and selected professors for vacant chairs. But this au- 
tonomy was largely illusor}^. The professors were almost exclusively 
members of the priesthood, and as such owed implicit obedience 
to the bishop, and, in addition, the election of officers and new 
professors required the confirmation of the prelate. University 
autonomy was, therefore, carefully circumscribed by church pre- 
rogative, and this equivocal form of government has been transmitted 
with little change to modern times, except that the State has taken 
the place of the church. Several universities of the colonial era owe 
their foimdation to one or another of the great religious orders. In 
these cases the order equipped, manned, and directed the school, 
subject, of course, to papal authority and to the immediate oversight 
of the bishop. 

The second group. — A second group of institutions of higher edu- 
cation sprang into existence in the era of national independence. 
After several abortive attempts extending over a period of 20 years, 
the University of Buenos Aires was definitely organized in 1821 by 
the consolidation of existing academies of law and medicine, and the 
erection of other faculties. In Peru the University of Trujillo was 
chartered in 1824, although not opened until 1831, and the University 
of Arequipa was founded in 1835. An institution was established at 
Medellin, in Colombia, in 1822. The famous Eestrepo had conducted 



THE FOUNDING OF TJNIVEESITIES. 13 

classes in philosophy there as early as 1814. Even after its formal 
organization the school was conducted under several different names, 
and it was not until much later that it assumed the title of university. 
None of these institutions, with the exception of Buenos Aires, had 
at their inception or have ever attained a full complement of facul- 
ties. At the present time Arequipa maintains departments of letters, 
sciences, and jurisprudence; Trujillo, letters and jurisprudence; 
Medellin, medicine and jurisprudence. In Brazil the university 
form of organization did not find favor. Professional schools were 
established, each independently of the other. Schools of medicine 
were founded at Rio de Janeiro and Bahia in 1808, and law schools 
at Sao Paulo and Eecife (formerly Pernambuco) in 1827. The fail- 
ure to establish professional or other schools of higher learning in 
Brazil during the colonial epoch is perhaps due to closer and easier 
communication with the mother country than existed between Spain 
and her continental American possessions. 

Development of legal studies. — In the university establishments of 
the second period the church had no part, at least not as an organi- 
zation. It was to secular influence that the universities and profes- 
sional schools of the early part of the nineteenth century owe their 
existence, and from the first they have depended upon civil author- 
ity, either local or national. In this same period the old universities 
were taken over more or less completely by the state, and in many 
added importance was at once given to the subjects of medicine and 
civil law. By their break with the mother country the Spanish 
States were thrown upon their own resources in matters educa- 
tional. The continuous stream of governors, judges, administrators, 
and physicians that had flowed for three centuries from the metrop- 
olis into the colonies was suddenly arrested. The supply must here- 
after come from native sources. Moreover, in the flush of newborn 
independence there was engendered an intense feeling of local pride 
and a determination to become self-sufficient in culture as well as in 
politics. The rapid extension of law schools, the increased impor- 
tance ascribed to this branch of study in the older universities, and 
the dominant position it has ever since held in the Spanish- American 
university, is in great measure the result of influence that gathered 
and pressed upon the public consciousness in those early years of 
national independence. Society was to be reconstituted, a new gov- 
ernment to be organized, colonial thraldom to be replaced by civil 
and political liberty. What nobler mission for the sons of a new 
commonwealth than to prepare themselves by a study of jurispru- 
dence and political sciences for their country's service ! While 
ancient principles of law still subsisted and court procedure re- 
mained much the same, new codes were made in the several State? 
and republican ideals were substituted for monarchical traditions. 



14 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

It was absolutely necessary for the young Republics to train their 
lawgivers, jurists, and public officials in the atmosphere of demo- 
cratic institutions. National self-preservation demanded national 
schools of jurisprudence. Consequently, in the old universities, as 
well as in the newly created ones, the faculty of law and political 
sciences assumed such importance that it soon overshadowed the 
other faculties and came to be considered by far the most important 
department of higher education. 

Medical studies. — The definitive organization of the medical fac- 
ulty as a distinct department of the university dates also from the 
sane period as that of law. It has been stated that the schools of 
Rio de Janeiro and Bahia were founded in 1808. The medical fac- 
ulty of Guatemala places its beginning in the year 1804, Lima con- 
siders 1811 the date of its final organization, and Caracas counts 
from the revised statutes of the university in 182G. In Buenos Aires 
a school of medicine was founded in 1801 and enlarged in 1813. In 
1821 it amalgamated with the new university. Political independ- 
ence did not have the same overwhelming influence on medical 
studies that it did on the study of law, but separation from the 
mother country could not fail to encourage the development of local 
institutions in a subject so important as that of medicine. 

The sciences. — At about the same period the department of mathe- 
matics, including physics and astronomy, was introduced into 
several universities. At first the department consisted of a single 
professorship, but with the advance of scientific study it developed 
into the facultad de ciencias eocactas, embracing all physico-mathe- 
matical sciences. When it exists as an independent institution it is 
commonly called the polytechnic school, or the school of engineer- 
ing. This latter appellation is often used even when it forms a part 
of the university, to the disregard of the official nomenclature facul- 
tad de ciencias exactas. The origin of this faculty owes nothing to 
political or national development, but is rather to be traced to the 
academic influence of the Encyclopedistes of France, who urged the 
importance of mathematical and scientific studies, and whose ideas 
were in great part incorporated into the French system of education 
under the First Republic, to be imitated later in the Spanish repub- 
lics of America. In fact, it may be affirmed that the dominant influ- 
ence in the educational life of Latin- American countries since their 
emancipation, as well as in their social and political life, has been 
French and not Spanish. The continuance of the monarchy and mon- 
archial ideas in Spain, added to the animosities remaining from the 
war of independence, have kept the Spanish- American republics 
estranged from the mother country, while the advance of demo- 
cratic ideas in France has appealed strongly to the XeAv World democ- 
racies and led to a close imitation of the French in all social activities. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



1ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 2 




A. MUSEUM, LA PLATA, ARGENTINA. 





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£. NEW PALACE OF FINE ARTS, SANTIAGO, CHILE. 



5UREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1912, NO. .30 PLATE 3 




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I' J "If Ik 11 11 




.4. PRINCIPAL FAQADE OF THE NEW UNIVERSITY BUILDING AT MONTEVIDEO. 




B. UNIVERSITY OF CHILE, SANTIAGO. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



3ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 4 




A. PATIO IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CARACAS, VENEZUELA. 




OBSERVATORY IN THE ALAMEDA, QUITO, ECUADOR. 



SUREAU OF EDUCATION 



iULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 5 




A. UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA, ARGENTINA. 




B. PATIO OF SAN MARCOS UNIVERSITY, LIMA, PERU. 



THE FOUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES. 15 

The third group. — Institutions of higher education which have 
been founded in recent times in Latin America owe their existence to 
a variety of circumstances and motives. The University of Monte- 
video, beginning with a law school in 1849, marks the final crystalliza- 
tion of Uruguayan nationality, and should perhaps be classed with the 
second group, although founded much later. A movement looking to 
the establishment of a university in Uruguay was started as early 
as 1830, and the institution was almost a fact in 1836, when internal 
dissensions caused the postponement of the project. The university 
contained no other faculty than that of law until 1876. In this year 
a school of medicine was organized, and in the following decade a 
school of engineering. 

The proclamation of the Republic in Brazil in 1889, and the subse- 
quent federation of its component States, have slowly wrought a 
change in the status of higher education in that country. The States 
are almost wholly autonomous. The federation is looser even than 
that of the United States of America. In matters of education 
the National Government is theoretically responsible only in the 
Federal District, Elsewhere public instruction is a prerogative of 
the respective States. It is true that the four so-called national 
schools of law and medicine have remained under the jurisdiction of 
the central Government and continued to receive their financial sup- 
port from the national treasury, but this anomalous situation will be 
corrected by recent legislation. State autonomy, coupled with the 
rapid growth in wealth and population of many parts of Brazil, has 
made the principal State capitals centers of much more importance 
than they were in the days of the empire. Educational progress has 
followed material advance, and groups of professional schools have 
grown up in Bahia, Bello Horizonte, Sao Paulo, Recife, and Porto 
Alegre, Up to the present time there have been no universities in 
Brazil, the professional schools having remained independent facul- 
ties, but the new educational law enacted in 1911 favors the university 
form of organization, and it is possible that in each educational 
center the various faculties may soon consolidate. 

Professional faculties in Brazil. — An enumeration of the profes- 
sional schools organized in Brazil during the past two decades gives 
some idea of the interest shown in this form of higher education 
and the distribution of the different schools. A medical school (the 
third in the Republic), including departments of pharmacy and 
dentistry, was founded at Porto Alegre in 1899. A school of phar- 
macy has long been a regular adjunct of a faculty of medicine, and 
a dental school has lately been created in each of the old medical 
faculties of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. Additional schools of phar- 
macy have been established at Belem (Para), Ouro Preto, Juiz de 
Fora, and Sao Paulo. The latter contains also a section of den- 
65993°— 13 2 



16 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

tistry and is on the point of expanding into a complete school of 
medicine. 

Law schools were founded at Rio de Janeiro in 1882 and 1891, 
at Bahia in 1890, at Bello Horizonte in 1892, and Porto Alegre 
in 1900. 

The first scientific school of Brazil was founded at Rio de Janeiro 
as early as 1810, but for several decades it was a military engineer- 
ing school only. After passing through several metamorphoses it 
finally acquired, in 1868, its present organization and the name of 
Escola Polytechnica. Several other engineering schools have recently 
been established— Recife, 1892; Sao Paulo, 1894; Porto Alegre, 1894; 
and Bahia, 1896. All have followed in name and organization the 
model of the one at the national capital. 

Other foundations. — The foundation of such universities as that 
of Santa Fe, in Argentina, in 1890; of Guayaquil and Cuenca, in. 
Ecuador; and of Los Andes, at Merida, in Venezuela, are due to local 
pride and ambition, coupled with difficulties of communication with 
older university centers. This latter consideration has led to the 
establishment of many independent faculties in Bolivia, where there 
are schools of law at La Paz, Cochabamba, and Potosi, and a medical 
faculty at La Paz, in addition to faculties of law, medicine, and 
theology at Sucre, the old capital. The latter in colonial times were 
combined, forming the old historic Universidad Mayor de Francisco 
Xavier, but are now independent schools. 

Panama has not as yet established any school of university grade, 
but all the Republics of Central America possess colleges of law 
(in Nicaragua there are no less than three) and all except Costa 
Rica maintain medical schools. These institutions are of compara- 
tively recent foundation except those of Guatemala, the old official 
metropolis of Central America under the colonial regime. They owe 
their origin to the dissolution of the Central American Confedera- 
tion about the middle of the nineteenth century and the subsequent 
development of local nationalities. 

Reasons for multiplication of universities. — There is an unmistak- 
able tendency in Latin America to increase the number of higher 
educational institutions, although conditions economic and otherwise 
do not always warrant the new foundations. New centers of popu- 
lation are zealous to complete their attractiveness by adding a uni- 
versity to their civic advantages. Regional jealousies and local 
politics contribute also to strengthen the movement. As indicated in 
a preceding paragraph, the natural barriers that divide many South 
American countries into distinct regions and the very great diffi- 
culties of travel and communication between the capital and the 
Provinces have sometimes led to the establishment of minor univer- 
sities when the total university population and the financial condi- 



THE FOUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES. 17 

tions of the country were inadequate to support more than one. The 
provincial universities of Cuzco, Arequipa, and Trujillo, in Peru; 
of Guayaquil, Cuenca, and the law school of Loja, in Ecuador; the 
two faculties of medicine and the half dozen faculties of law in 
Bolivia; the minor universities of Meridain Venezuela and Cartagena, 
Popayaiij Medellin, and Pasto in Colombia, all owe their existence to 
the broken topography of the country as much as to local ambitions. 
The support of these provincial universities is a severe burden on 
the national treasury and presents disadvantages of an educational 
order, but the regions they serve are remote from the chief university 
center of their respective countries and their suppression would entail 
great hardship on the youth that frequent them. In many cases it 
would be a national misfortune. Bolivia has struggled with the 
problem, but to no avail. Professional schools have increased in num- 
ber instead of diminishing. In her difficulties Bolivia has pointed 
with envy to Chile with her one central State university, unmindful 
that the latter country is beginning to feel the same influences and 
there is probability of the creation of two other institutions. Recent 
ministers of public instruction in Ecuador have inveighed against 
the plurality of universities, pointing out that for each student en- 
rolled the nation expends annually $350. The Andean Ranges that 
divide the country form an insurmountable argument in support of 
the existing system. 

Another reason that operates for the establishment of provincial 
universities would be devoid of weight in the United States. In 
Spanish America a national capital exerts an indescribable attrac- 
tion on the cultured and educated classes. Professional men prefer 
to live poorly, if necessary, in this center of social refinement rather 
than to enjoy opulence in a provincial town. Lawyers, doctors, and 
others whom a State has educated at great cost abound in the cap- 
ital, while the countryside lacks necessary professional service. The 
young men who go from the smaller towns feel the lure of the cap- 
ital with its large university so strongly that after graduation they 
remain there. The Provinces lack educated leaders and trained pub- 
lic servants. This is the reason ascribed for the foundation of the 
law school of Santa Fe, in Argentina, which has recently added 
other departments of instruction and promises soon to become a 
complete university. Neither great distance nor difficulty of travel 
separates it from the National University of Buenos Aires on the 
south or Cordoba on the west. In Chile this same reason, coupled 
with local city pride and the fear that the church might preempt a 
promising field to the exclusion of the state, has caused the founda- 
tion of schools of law at Valparaiso and Concepcion. The predic- 
tion is freely made that the latter will develop very shortly into a 
full-fledged university. In view of the relatively large university 



18 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

population in Chile and the intelligent interest shown in education, 
there would be more reason for this additional institution than for 
some that now exist in other South American countries. 

The situation in Central America is unfortunate. No one of the 
five small Republics is populous enough or rich enough to maintain 
a complete first-class university. A solution of the problem of 
higher education there might be found in the reestablishment of the 
old federation and the exercise of the policy of distributing the va- 
rious branches of the Federal Government among the States in order 
to allay local jealousies, as has recently been done so successfully in 
British South Africa. 

University of La Plata. — This university, but recently established, 
is unique both in spirit and in organization. The story of its foun- 
dation and an account of its policies and methods can be given only 
in outline, but deserve larger space. 

In 1882 the Province of Buenos Aires transferred the seat of the 
provincial government from the city of Buenos Aires to the town of 
La Plata, distant an hour's ride by rail from the Federal capital. 
Local pride Avas stirred to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. The new 
city was to rival in beauty and in importance the national metropolis. 
A pretentious street plan was evolved, parks were established, boule- 
vards stretched away in magnificent distances. The provincial 
government constructed fine public buildings, paved the streets, and 
provided modern systems of water, electricity, and sewerage. The 
town grew rapidly, but the lure of the great Federal capital only 30 
miles away was very great, and in order to retain educated public ser- 
vants and enhance the attractiveness of the new metropolis, there was 
established in 1897 a provincial university, embracing the faculties of 
law and social sciences, of physics, mathematics, and astronomy, of 
agronomy and veterinary medicine, and of chemistry and pharmacy, 
to which was added in 1900 a faculty of medicine. A practical agri- 
cultural and veterinary school was also affiliated with the university, 
while an extensive astronomical and meteorological station, and a 
splendid museum of ethnology and natural history completed the 
educational equipment. 

This organization continued for eight or nine years. The number 
of students was always small. There could be but little academic 
spirit. The element of vigorous emulation was wanting. The Prov- 
ince lost its first enthusiasm for the educational enterprise, and as the 
institution was simply a miniature copy of the great university of 
Buenos Aires, there was no real need for its existence. As early as 
1902 the Province began to relinquish its responsibility in favor of the 
National Government. At this juncture a band of Argentine educa- 
tors, imbued with the spirit of pure scholarship, conceived the idea of 
converting the institution into a university more nearly approaching 



THE FOUNDING OP UNIVERSITIES. 19 

the European and North American types. Through their influence 
the Province was induced to transfer the university with all its build- 
ings, grounds, equipment, and endowment to the National Govern- 
ment. In 1905 the institution became the " Universidad Nacional de la 
Plata " and started out on a new career, under a very different organi- 
zation and with changed policies. The school of medicine was wisely 
abandoned. The proximity to the University of Buenos Aires rendered 
futile the continuance of a professional school which required exten- 
sive laboratories, large chemical facilities, and great hospitals. The 
school of law was incorporated into the broader faculty of social and 
juridical sciences, in which law is but one section running parallel 
with a teachers' college and a college of philosophy and arts, while 
above the three sections is an advanced course leading to the degree of 
doctor. The engineering school is organized on a different plan from 
that usually followed in South America, and scientific study occupies 
a large place. The natural sciences, so called (chemistry, botany, 
zoology, geography, etc.), are grouped in one faculty that offers 
courses varying in length from three to five years, and the physical, 
mathematical, and astronomical sciences comprise another faculty 
with several lines of study ranging from two to six years in length. 
The school of natural sciences prepares pharmacists and professors of 
the respective sciences ; the school of physical sciences prepares civil, 
electrical, mechanical, and architectural engineers, and professors of 
mathematics and physics. The pedagogical character of the univer- 
sity is very marked. Its avowed policy is to train scientists, scholars, 
and teachers, rather than lawyers, pharmacists, and engineers. Its 
aim is scholarly — not professional, and its organization is planned to 
produce this result. In the traditional university of Spanish 
America social sciences are studied only in the law school with the 
view of their application to jurisprudence ; natural sciences are pur- 
sued only in the medical school for their bearing on medicine; and 
physico-mathematical sciences are found only in the engineering 
school. In the various faculties the tendency is to put the applica- 
tion of the science above the science itself. In La Plata the policy is 
exactly the opposite; the subject comes first, and, above all, scientific 
method is insisted upon whether the studies are natural, physical, 
social, or juridical sciences. 

The institutions of higher learning in Latin America can therefore 
be classed historically as colonial and clerical, national and provin- 
cial. Every effort to understand their organization and spirit must 
start with the colonial type, since the national universities were origi- 
nally but a secularized form of the old institutions. It is true that 
the emphasis was shifted from philosophy, letters, and theology to 
jurisprudence and later to medicine and science^ but the organization 
remained much the same, while methods of instruction and the aca- 



20 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

demic spirit evolved but slowly. The same type of organization and 
the same ideals have passed into the provincial universities, so that 
these are only miniature copies of the larger educational centers. 
This does not imply that educational ideals have remained stationary 
since colonial times. It means simply that evolution has been grad- 
ual, that much of the old is still evident in the institutions of to-day, 
and that the present conditions, methods, and ideals can be under- 
stood and explained only by an acquaintance with the former types. 
In the University of La Plata only has tradition been disregarded, 
but even here it has unconsciously molded many policies. 






CHAPTER II. 

STUDENTS, STUDIES, AND DEGREES. 

Enrollment. — The rapidly increasing enrollment in institutions of 
higher learning is a phenomenon as striking in several countries of 
Latin America as it is in the United States. The only difference is 
that in the latter country the faculty of letters, philosophy, and pure 
sciences shares in the increase, while in the former the drift is wholly 
toward the professional faculties. Chile, with a population of only 
3,000,000, enrolls annually almost 2,000 students in the national uni- 
versity and upward of 700 in the Catholic University, a gain of 50 
per cent in a decade. Argentina, with a population of 7,500,000, 
enrolls in her four universities 7,000 students, of whom about 5,000 
are matriculated in the University of Buenos Aires alone. A quarter 
of a century ago the total university population was less than 800 
and the enrollment at Buenos Aires 600. At Lima there are 1,100 
students in the university and in the detached schools of engineering 
and agriculture, while the three provincial universities of Peru add 
about 400 more. In Brazil the number of law and medical students 
is disproportionately large, and the Government is seeking some 
practicable method of checking the constant increase. In the four 
greatest faculties of law (Sao Paulo, Recife, and the two at Rio de 
Janeiro) the annual matriculation approaches 3,000. The two 
national faculties of medicine (Rio de Janeiro and Bahia) enrolled 
last year 2,245 students in medicine, 461 in pharmacy, and 423 in 
dentistry. The lesser schools of law and medicine, located in the 
smaller centers and patronized by the States in which they are situ- 
ated, will increase very considerably the number of students. Com- 
plete statistics to date are not available, but it is probable that in 
the entire Republic of Brazil there are no less than 4,000 students of 
law, and an even greater number in the schools of medicine, phar- 
macy, and dentistry. Other Latin-American nations in proportion 
to their population show a large student enrollment, and the number 
is everywhere a surprise when one considers the economic, social, and 
racial disadvantages under which some countries labor. It must be 
remembered, too, that the figures include only students of real uni- 
versity rank, since admission to the university or to the independent 
professional faculty is invariably based on the completion of the 

21 



22 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

secondary school curriculum. In fact the liceo diploma is not always 
sufficient in itself; some universities insist on their own examination 
in addition, not for the purpose of requiring more than the secondary 
school offers, but merely to insure that the preparation satisfies the 
university standard. 

Secondary schools. — Secondary education in Latin America usually 
covers six years and is based on an elementary school course of equal 
length. In a few countries the elementary course extends over seven 
years, and in some the secondary school is reduced to five. The two 
school periods never exceed 12 years, and in some nations comprise 
but 11. It is not the 'province of this work to treat of secondary 
schools, but in order to define somewhat the university entrance re- 
quirements it may be said that the Latin-American high school offers 
less in mathematics and considerably less in laboratory science than 
the corresponding institution in North America, but, on the other 
hand, it regular^ includes such subjects as psychology, logic, political 
economy, and philosophy. In very few countries are the ancient 
classics taught, but everywhere much importance is given to modern 
languages, and at least two are included in every high-school course 
that leads to the university. The secondary school curriculum is 
therefore comprehensive, and the student should enter the university 
possessing a reasonably broad mental vision. The age of the liceo 
graduate is about the same as that of the American boy when he 
finishes the high school. The Latin American is perhaps superior 
in breadth of vision, cosmopolitan sj^mpathy, power of expression, 
and argumentative ability, but, on the other hand, perhaps inferior 
in the powers of analysis and initiative and in the spirit of self- 
reliance. 

The university faculties. — The full complement of faculties in a 
Spanish- American university comprises letters and philosophy, 
theology, law, medicine, and science or engineering, to which is some- 
times added agriculture. However, in many institutions the faculty 
of letters and philosophy has ceased to exist ; in others it is, in 
reality, a higher normal college, as in Chile and Argentina. In Peru, 
although still of full university rank, this faculty has become to a 
considerable extent a special preparatory course for students of law, 
who are required to complete two years of work in the faculty of 
letters before they enter upon their legal studies. Generally, there- 
fore, the Spanish-American university contains only professional 
schools. Of these theology, the first and most important in the 
old universities, has been almost everywhere eliminated. With the 
passing of the universities in the nineteenth century from the control 
of the church to that of the state, and with the ever-growing senti- 
ment among the ruling classes in favor of complete separation of 
church and state, the faculty of theology in national universities no 



STUDENTS, STUDIES, AND DEGEEES. 2.3 

longer offered sufficient guaranties for the orthodox instruction of 
the clergy. In its place, bishops founded diocesan seminaries for the 
training of priests, and the archbishop established a gran seminario 
for advanced study. The faculties were then left without students. 
Most universities retain, however, the empty name. Some note that 
the studies in this faculty are done in the archbishop's seminary and 
in States where the relations between church and state are still 
cordial, students from the seminary occasionally present themselves 
before the university faculty to receive the degree of doctor of 
divinity, but more often they go, or are sent by the prelate, to Rome 
to complete their theological studies and to receive there the final 
academic sanction. Taking into account these deductions, it will be 
observed that the university of to-day usually comprises in reality 
only the schools of law, medicine, and engineering. In many coun- 
tries the department of agriculture is an entirely separate institution, 
but always of university rank. 

Degrees and examinations. — The student is usually a bachelor of 
letters or science when he enters the professional school, since in 
Latin America these degrees represent the completion of secondary 
studies as they do in France and some other European countries. In 
many law faculties there is an intermediate degree of bachelor of 
laws, which may be obtained after about three years of study. It is 
a purely academic distinction, as it does not mark the end of legal 
studies and does not confer the privilege of practicing the profession. 
It is a traditional custom and is universally recognized as superfluous. 

The final university degree in each faculty is that of doctor ; Chile 
alone confers no doctorate or similar title of distinction, but grants a 
simple certificate of graduation with the corresponding professional 
title of medico, abogado, etc. In common usage, however, a physician 
in Chile is spoken of, and to, as doctor. In Central America the title 
of a law graduate is not doctor, but Ucenciado, following the old 
Spanish nomenclature, and despite the awkward length of the appel- 
lation, its use is required in formal address and in print. 

The right to practice a profession is conferred by the university or 
professional faculty. The graduate may have some additional forms 
to observe, but they are only forms and imply no further examina- 
tion. This usage, which differs from that of the United States, arises 
from the fact that in the latter country the university is merely a 
corporation chartered by the State for the purpose of instruction. In 
Latin America it is a part of the civil administration, and is em- 
powered not only to instruct, but also to license professional men. 

In countries where the doctorate is conferred in law and scientific 
faculties, it is not always synonomous with the professional title. The 
latter is abogado, ingeniero, arquitecto, or agronomo, while the doc- 
torate of laws or sciences is conferred as the result of a second ex- 



24 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

animation presupposing advanced and additional studies. In the law 
school, however, the student usually strives to become a doctor and 
can often win this degree in the same time that is allotted for the 
acquisition of the professional title. The University of La Plata is 
battling against this tendency in Argentina by compressing the regu- 
lar law course into four years (instead of five or six years, as usually 
required) and demanding two additional years of strictly postgradu- 
ate studies for the doctorate. 

The departments of pharmacy and dentistry everywhere grant 
only the professional titles of pharmacist (farmaceutico) and dentist 
(dentista). 

In all departments of the university the degree or professional 
title is conferred only after an oral, public examination before a 
committee of the faculty, usually presided over by the dean, but in 
the smaller institutions by the rector. The examination may cover 
the entire range of studies pursued by the student in the department. 
A printed thesis is also required for the doctorate and usually for 
the lesser degrees and professional titles. Often the examination 
consists chiefly in the defense of the thesis. These examinations and 
degree-conferring practices have been inherited from Europe and 
have undergone little or no change for centuries. Although the 
final examination is comprehensive and may cover the entire range 
of studies, oral examinations are held at the end of each year in 
each subject, and a student can not proceed to a higher class unless 
he passes the examinations of the year. The year-end examinations 
are also held before a committee of the faculty. A student is passed 
(aprobado), conditioned (desaprobado), or failed entirely (repro- 
bado). A conditional student is given the opportunity of taking 
another examination before the opening of the succeeding year. No 
tests are given during the year. Written examinations are not in 
favor. Occasionally they have been tried, but always abandoned. 
The oral examination conducted by a jury composed of at least three 
members of the faculty is the only form that satisfies students, pro- 
fessors, and parents. 

Academic honors. — The title of doctor, little matter in what depart- 
ment it is earned, is highly esteemed in Latin America. Its posses- 
sion confers social distinctions and, if it be in law, a decided political 
prestige. It was for this reason and in the hope of promoting demo- 
cratic ideals that Chile abolished university degrees altogether. Not- 
withstanding this action, the prestige of a university education abides 
there as elsewhere. Sons of upper-class families are expected to 
study medicine or law whether they intend to practice the profession 
or not. In fact, a very large proportion do not, and either remain 
landed proprietors or devote themselves to some form of public life, 
politics, diplomacy, or journalism. The faculties of engineering and 



STUDENTS, STUDIES, AND DEGREES. 25 

agriculture do not receive the same uniform aristocratic patronage, 
and their degrees are considered less ornamental and more utilitarian. 
Methods. — In all the faculties the lecture method is used almost 
exclusively, even in the first years, and there is no control of the stu- 
dent's application to study save the year-end examination. There 
are no quizzes, no mid-term tests, and promotion depends entirely on 
the oral examination. Even attendance at lectures is largely a 
matter of option. It is true that the university prescribes that a 
student absent from a certain proportion of lectures or laboratory 
exercises can not come up for examination at the end of the year, but 
as "reasonable excuses" for absence are admitted the rule becomes 
exceedingly flexible. 



CHAPTER III. 
UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION. 

In its internal organization and administration the Latin- 
American university has adhered closely to the traditional system 
adopted in the first ecclesiastical universities and copied by them 
from southern Europe. Within certain bounds it is autonomous, 
making its own internal regulations, defining the details of its work, 
and fixing its own requirements, providing they do not conflict with 
the national school laws. Every educational institution, whether 
university, normal school, or other special institution, has two sets 
of regulations. The one is general, defining the form of its organiza- 
tion, duties of its' officers, scope of its work, and general scholastic 
requirements. This code is formed and promulgated by the executive 
authority of the State. The other set of regulations is for the inter- 
nal government of the institution and is drafted by the institution 
itself. It must be in harmony with the State regulations, but can 
take into consideration local conditions. There is no intermediary 
between State and university, no board of trustees, curators, or 
regents. Officials and professors receive their commission directly 
from the chief executive, through the minister of public instruction. 
The rector, vice rector, secretary, and treasurer are either appointed 
by the Government, or, if elected within the university, the choice 
must be confirmed by the President of the Republic. Their terms of 
office are short; in some institutions they may be reelected or reap- 
pointed indefinitely, but more often the offices rotate among the pro- 
fessors. The internal government of the institution is vested in a 
council composed of two or three members from each faculty and 
presided over by the rector. The council is formed sometimes by 
election, sometimes by governmental appointment. Each faculty has 
also its council, presided over by the dean. In general it may be said 
that the smaller the State and the institution the closer the govern- 
mental control ; in the larger universities it tends to become a matter 
of form. In spite of the direct and intimate dependence of the uni- 
versity upon the State, very rarely does political domination interfere 
with the legitimate functions of instruction. 

Professors and tenure of office. — The final, formal appointment of 
professors is made in much the same way as that of the officers, viz, 
26 



UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION. 27 

election within the university itself and confirmation by the State. 
A common method is for the faculty to nominate through the rector 
to the minister of public instruction three eligible candidates. Some- 
times the faculty has the right to indicate its preference. Once 
appointed, the professor is not removable except for neglect of duty 
or misconduct duly proved. The chair is spoken of as the property 
of the professor (propriedad del catedratico), a phraseology which 
has descended from an epoch when only few professorships were 
filled for life, the others being thrown open every few years and 
refilled after a competitive examination (oposicion). In those days 
life tenure was an unusual honor, and a professorship en propriedad 
was a distinction. The distinction no longer exists, but the honorary 
phraseology remains. In many States of Latin America the tenure 
of the teacher's office is rigorously guarded, sometimes even to the 
extent of producing ridiculous situations. It is told that in one case 
a professor was duly appointed to teach a certain branch in a desig- 
nated institution. Later the subject was discontinued in that school 
and the Government proposed to transfer the teacher to another 
where the subject was retained. He refused to be transferred, alleg- 
ing that his appointment was for the designated school only; he 
appealed to the courts, the appeal was sustained, and the teacher has 
since spent his time pleasantly in Europe, while continuing to draw 
his stipulated salary. 

Teaching hours per toeek. — In order to appreciate the position 
and duties of -a Latin- American university professor, as well as the 
manner of his selection, some explanations are necessary, since in 
all these matters there is wide divergence from North American 
practices. First of all, it must be noted that in Spanish America a 
professorship is limited not merely to a single subject, but to one 
single general course continued throughout the year. If a subject 
runs through two or more years, each year constitutes a separate 
professorship and is usually taught by a different instructor. In 
some universities a class meets every day ; in others, but three times 
a week. A professor's hours therefore are at the most six per week, 
more often but three. In the case of foreign professors " contracted 
for" abroad, and also for certain special professorships, especially 
in medical schools, the hours per week devoted to instruction exceed 
the maximum given above, but the statement in its generality is 
nevertheless correct. In those institutions where the three-hour 
course is in vogue, a professor may occupy two chairs, but this is 
unusual. So strong is the tradition in favor of single chairs that 
often the limitation has passed into legal statute. 

No teaching profession. — The next consideration to be noted is that 
teaching in the universities is not a distinct profession. This may 
be the cause or the result of the regulation forbidding plurality of 



28 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

chairs. In either case the condition remains to the serious detri- 
ment of higher education. Teaching but three, or exceptionally 
six hours, per week the professor's stipend is naturally too small to 
constitute a livelihood. There are, therefore, no professors, not even 
the officers of the institution, who devote their entire thought and 
activity to teaching. In the law faculty the teachers are practicing 
attorneys, judges, editors, or Government administrative officers; 
in the medical faculty they are practicing physicians, pharmacists, 
dentists, and amateur scientists; in the engineering school, practicing 
engineers, pharmacists, architects, and surveyors; in the faculty of 
letters and philosophy (where this faculty remains), lawyers, edit- 
ors, and publicists. Where the faculty of science exists apart from 
the engineering school, the natural science chairs are occupied by 
pharmacists, the biological by physicians, and the mathematical by 
engineers. Arguments can be adduced in favor of filling some chairs 
in professional schools with men who are also engaged in the active 
practice of their profession, but the universal custom as followed 
in Latin America presents serious disadvantages. It is perhaps 
less fruitful of evil in the law school than elsewhere, and as this was 
the first of the modern secular faculties to be developed, and the 
real nucleus of the university, the custom of to-day is perhaps but 
the extension to other schools of a practice which, although per- 
nicious in its present general application, was not wholly inappro- 
priate in its original form. What is still more disastrous at present, 
and contrary to the basic principles of pedagogy, is the extension of 
the practice to the secondary school, as is the case in most countries. 
Here, too, the subjects are subdivided into many chairs, and the pro- 
fessors are drawn, according to the nature of the chair, from the 
various professions. They may and usually do know their subject, 
but as teaching is not their profession few make any effort to learn 
how to teach. The lamentable result is that pupils receive instruc- 
tion in a form that frequently defies assimilation, and which fails 
to become education in the best sense of the term. 

Duties of a professor. — The limited duties and responsibilities 
of a professor, compared with those of his North American col- 
league, are a natural corollary to his divided interests. He reports 
in the secretary's office before the daily or triweekly lecture and 
signs the roll as proof of attendance. The lecture given, he returns 
to his office and resumes the practice of his profession. He con- 
ducts no quizzes, gives no tests during the year, and consequently has 
no examination papers to engage his attention. At the end of the 
scholastic year he does duty on the oral examination commissions, 
and at times throughout the year he may be drafted for service at 
special examinations. In both instances responsibility is shared with 
two colleagues. Unless he is a member of the council in his faculty 



UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION. 29 

or of the central university council, he has nothing to do with the 
administration of the institution, and even service on the councils 
is not onerous. The hour with the class is in no sense a recitation; 
the professor simply lectures, and beyond this he assumes no re- 
sponsibility for the progress or application of his students. Kepeat- 
ing as he does year after year the same course, the professor has every 
temptation to stereotype his matter and even the form of its presenta- 
tion. The system instead of producing specialists, which is the 
reason urged in its behalf, seems to tend rather to fossilize both the 
subject and the instructor. If the subject includes laboratory exer- 
cises, these are supervised by a laboratory director. The time, 
thought, and attention that the professor gives to the university and 
its work is therefore limited, and necessarily so, since the university 
claims little and pays accordingly. 

Professional prestige. — On the other hand, the position confers a 
distinct honor on the holder, gives him prestige in his profession, 
and puts him before the public in a favorable light. It is a known 
stepping-stone to political preferment. For these reasons it is often 
possible to fill the professorial chairs with distinguished men from 
the very best families of the nation, who, if they are not primarily 
educators, yet possess a reputation for scholarship and general 
ability, and a prestige that dignifies the lecture room and commands 
the respect and often the admiration of the students. 

Methods of choosing a professor. — The position of professor in a 
Latin-American university, his limited duties and responsibilities, 
the methods of instruction, and the importance given to examina- 
tions explain many points in the university organization and admin- 
istration that appear anomalous to a foreigner. But upon no point 
do they throw more light than upon the system employed for filling 
a vacant professorship. These systems show considerable variation, 
but the principle upon which each is based is the same. Since the 
professor is not primarily a teacher, the question of scholarship is 
the only point considered, to the exclusion of teaching experience, 
personality, and didactic ability. Moreover, as the chair includes 
but one subject, or even a part of a subject, the scholarship test is 
limited to a narrow scope. It is specialization in the strictest sense 
of the terms. 

An ancient custom — The final appointive act is the prerogative of 
the Government, but the initiative usually belongs to the university. 
In no case does the rector or dean have the exclusive privilege of 
nomination, much less of choice. The form of procedure is derived 
historically from the old system of oposicion, Avhich operated as 
follows: Notice of the vacancy was published in accordance with a 
prescribed form, and the date was announced when applicants would 
be heard. The candidates assembled in the presence of the faculty 



30 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

or a committee of that body and proceeded to examine each other in 
the subject for which a professor was sought, Each tried to pro- 
pound questions that his rivals could not answer, but which he could 
readily resolve himself. Members of the faculty could also put 
questions to each of the candidates in turn. After this intellectual 
tournament, that candidate was chosen who had best parried the 
thrusts of his rivals and whose own intellectual armor exhibited the 
fewest dents. 

A modified system. — This ancient procedure is now happily obso- 
lete, but a modified form of the " opposition system " is still used in 
Borne Latin-American institutions. Candidates for the vacant pro- 
fessorship appear before the faculty at the same time, but instead of 
putting and answering questions each in turn presents a detailed 
program of the course as he would give it, enumerating the topics 
in the order he thinks they should be presented to the class and 
offering whatever remarks and explanations he may desire. Each 
program is criticized by the other candidates, also by members of 
the faculty, and the author is expected to defend his position. The 
candidate is then assigned a topic from his program and allowed 
a certain time, usually 24 hours, to prepare the lesson. This lecture 
is given in public, and the faculty, or a committee appointed by the 
faculty, judges the candidate's ability to present clearly, logically, 
and happily his subject. This system, while savoring much of the 
ancient o position, gives some consideration to the pedagogical 
aspect of the question. Since a professor gives but one single course 
and the lecture method is the accepted form of instruction, it is im- 
portant that the instructor have a logical program and a convincing 
address. The system, however, has grave defects, and its disad- 
vantages have been tersely stated in a recent report of the rector 
of the University of Arequipa. He argues that the program sub- 
mitted may not be original; at the best it must be modeled upon 
others, and in either case is no adequate criterion of the author's 
knowledge of the -subject, while the oral lesson is more a test of 
oratory than of pedagogy. 

A further modification. — Even this modified form of oposition 
has fallen into disfavor in the larger universities, and a further 
modification has been instituted. The candidates for a vacant chair 
submit to a committee of the faculty a record of their scholastic 
achievements, a list of their publications, and also a detailed topical 
program such as has already been described. There is no confronta- 
tion of the condidates. The committee is composed of those pro- 
fessors whose chairs are most closely related to the one to be filled. 
It examines the records, publications, and programs in private ses- 
sions and reports its findings to the faculty. The oral lesson is 
retained, but only the candidate whose scholastic attainments best 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



JULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 6 




A. NATIONAL LIBRARY, RIO DE JANEIRO. 




SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS AND ART MUSEUM, RIO DE JANEIRO. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



iULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 7 




A. OLD SEMINARY AT SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA. 




BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



SULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 



UJii 1LUI 



A. PATIO OF THE BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL AT LA PAZ, BOLIVIA. 




B. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE, ASUNCION, PARAGUAY. 















£r 




UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION. 31 

meet the judgment of the committee is invited to give the public 
lecture, which, in fact, is commonly regarded as a mere form — an 
empty tradition. 

The substitute professor. — A further departure from traditional 
methods is observed in the tendency to apply the last-named pro- 
cedure to the selection of the substitute professor (el suplente), who 
succeeds as a matter of course to the chair in case it becomes vacant. 
The substitute professor is a constant element in most Latin- Ameri- 
can faculties, and the position is not in the least anomalous when it 
is remembered that the regular professor is lawyer, physician, engi- 
neer, or publicist, and that the exigencies of his profession may at 
times prevent him from fulfilling his duties as professor. These 
reasons make it advisable, if not absolutely necessary, to have another 
ready to take up the work. The substitute when chosen may not, 
and usually does not, have any regular duties. He simply holds him- 
self in readiness to assume the class in case the catedratico through 
absence, sickness, or other reason is unable to give the lectures. The 
position is an honorable one in itself and places the occupant in a 
favorable position in case of a vacancy, even in those institutions 
where the succession is not fixed by university statute. 

Government confirmation. — In all cases the successful candidate is 
still subject to confirmation by the State authorities. The recent 
reform of higher education in Brazil will make an exception there 
to this custom. The new Brazilian law grants to individuals and 
societies the right to incorporate for the purpose of founding uni- 
versities independent of the State. The corporation, within certain 
well-defined and necessary limitations, can prescribe the course of 
study and the length of the term, elect the professors, and expend its 
revenue in the manner it chooses. The law puts higher education on 
much the same basis as in the United States and is in direct contrast 
with the older and prevalent Latin- American policy of governmental 
control and monopoly. The traditional custom has had the advan- 
tage of preventing the unlimited creation of professional schools, 
and Brazil may witness under the new law the foundation of mush- 
room medical and engineering schools lacking scientific equipment 
and granting unworthy certificates of graduation. Federations of 
sovereign States, such as Brazil and the United States, necessarily 
experience legal difficulties in establishing uniform national regu- 
lations. 

Decentralization in the universities. — In enumerating the institu- 
tions of higher education in Latin America repeated reference has 
been made to both universities and independent faculties, and it 
was stated that some countries adhered to the first system and others 
to the second. As a matter of fact, this distinction exists more in 
65993°— 13 3 



32 LATHST-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

name than in fact, and everywhere the faculties are to a very large 
degree independent each of the other, and all of the central organi- 
zation. The university is a loose federation of separate schools, and 
the larger it becomes the greater is the centripetal force. 

In the North American University the administrative officers, as 
distinct from the professorial staff, constitute a strong element of 
unity. President, secretary, and registrar belong equally to all 
departments and give their entire time to the interests, scholastic 
and financial, of the institution. The president especially is a bond 
of union. He is a man of more or less eminence, an educational 
leader, an authority, not in a single line of letters, politics, or science, 
but in the broader field of educational and administrative policies. 
The Spanish- American university has a different type of organiza- 
tion. Its officials are little more than professors. They give but 
little time to the work of administration, because under the system 
there is little to be done. The rector is a lawyer, a physician, or a 
publicist, as are the professors, and the direction of the university 
is secondary to the practice of his profession. As he usually occupies 
the office but for a short term and then becomes simply one professor 
among many, he seldom acquires during his term as rector any 
additional prestige. Moreover, he is not expected to become an 
educational leader. He merely stands at the head of his colleagues 
for a short time and represents them before the State and the public. 
In many different ways the absence of a university president is a 
distinct loss in Spanish-American higher education, but in no respect 
more than in the unifying influence he might exert in the university 
organization. 

Departments scattered. — Another decentralizing influence in the 
Spanish-American university is the material separation of the 
schools. No tract of ground was set aside for future buildings, and 
as the university outgrew its first home, faculty after faculty was 
transferred to other quarters, often in quite different and distant 
parts of the city. In the Universities of Montevideo, Buenos Aires, 
and Santiago no two faculties occupy the same building, and no 
two buildings are in the same part of the city. In other universi- 
ties the same tendency is likewise noticeable, one or more faculties 
having been forced into other and often distant buildings. 

The first always to develop the separatist tendency was the faculty 
of medicine. From the beginning, its practical work was done in the 
hospital, and many professors found it convenient to give their lec- 
tures there, in improvised classrooms. As laboratories were de- 
veloped, special buildings were required for their installation, and a 
separate medical college was erected, if possible in close proximity 
to the hospital. Following the segregation of the medical school 
came that of the engineering faculty, accelerated also by the labora- 



UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION. 33 

tory problem. If a school of agriculture was formed, it must neces- 
sarily be located in the country or in the outskirts of the city. Thus 
widely separated in distance, with students entering the different 
faculties directly from the liceo without passing through any common 
faculty of arts and sciences, the various schools had little in common, 
and it is not to be wondered at that they have grown apart. Each 
has its dean, who is a rector in parvo, each its secretary, its special 
library, and its student society. In the large universities the rector 
and general council do little in the way of general administration 
save proportioning the annual revenue among the various schools; 
in other matters the faculties exercise almost complete independence. 
The tendency is well illustrated historically. Sucre, once the seat 
of a noted university, now has only separate faculties. The same 
is true of Guatemala. During several years the University of Sal- 
vador was officially conducted as separate schools, and has but lately 
returned to the university form of organization. The ease with 
which the change is made from one system to the other shows how 
loose is the university organization. 

Another condition that accentuates the separatist tendency is the 
lack of a real department of letters, science, and philosophy. A dis- 
tinguished Chilean describing the University of Santiago writes: 
"Although the university charter contains all the necessary provisions 
to make of it a general scientific institution, it is, in fact, no more 
than a confederation of professional schools whose courses of study 
qualify the graduate for the profession of lawyer, engineer, etc." 
The professional schools have nothing in common, and there is no 
strong central faculty corresponding to the college of liberal arts 
in the United States. 

Academies. — There exists in some universities, notably in Buenos 
Aires, an institution different in organization and function from 
anything in a North American university. In each faculty there 
is an " academy " composed of 25 members chosen among those pro- 
fessors who have served on the faculty council, or who have distin- 
guished themselves in scientific or scholarly research. The latter class 
must have been in the service of the university not less than 10 years. 
Membership is for life and the society is self-perpetuating. The 
duties of the society are to study questions of university policy and 
advise the administrative officers ; to discuss and report on adminis- 
trative and scientific problems that may be submitted to the society ; 
to maintain the standard of instruction in the faculty; to initiate 
reforms in the curriculum; and, in general, to strive for the better- 
ment of the university. In so far as the academy touches the ad- 
ministration, it is" merely an advisory board to the council. In mat- 
ters of general scholarship, it is an academy in the ordinary sense of 
the term. In actual practice, it serves to connect the university 



34 LATIN-AMEEICAN UNIVEESITIES. 

with the public, since professors who leave the chair for public serv- 
ice retain their membership in the academy. It advances the inter- 
ests of scholarship by placing this ideal before professors; and, by 
the election of honorary members, which is one of its privileges, it 
enlists the sympathy of scholars in distant parts of the country and 
serves as a means of communication with learned societies in other 
countries. 

Close relation between the university and secondary schools. — 
Universities have had no preparatory schools such as formerly existed 
in the United States and exist still in some localities. However, 
there was often a close relation between the university and the na- 
tional liceo of the same city or town that made of the latter a pre- 
paratory department to all intents and purposes. In referring in 
preceding paragraphs to the frequent disappearance of the faculty 
of letters, philosophy, and pure science, it was stated that its place 
had been taken in a certain measure by the improved secondary 
schools. The theory that higher literary studies are not a subject 
for school methods — a theory developed in France at the time of the 
Revolution, and tersely expressed by Napoleon in the words: Le 
gout et le genie ne peuvent s'apprendre. On comprend un cercle, un 
salon, meme une acad-emie, ou quelqvhm professe et disserte, tout cela 
s\ipplique non a ^instruction proprement dite et a V exercise aVun 
etat special mais a Vagrement de la. societe, seems to have been imi- 
tated, or spontaneously evolved, in Latin America. The liceo is very 
generally looked upon as a department of higher instruction, espe- 
cially if it is a liceo of the first grade, i. e., offering a complete course, 
covering the full regulation time, and entitling its pupils to the 
degree of bacMller. Very naturally the best institution of this grade 
is to be found in the capital, or other university towns, and often 
under the very shadow of the higher institution. Students pass from 
it directly into the professional faculties. There has not been, and 
very rarely is there to-day, any actual administrative bond between 
the two. Each has its own budget, its own officials and professors, 
and each depends separately upon the department of public instruc- 
tion. But this mutual relation to the State creates in itself a certain 
bond, since in the minister's office one bureau is intrusted with both 
secondary and higher education, while to another is allotted primary 
and normal instruction. 

Material contact. — Material circumstances, too, have served to 
connect the university with the local high school. In the early days 
of secular education, when the university was usually small and 
lodged in some old monastery taken over by the State, the liceo was 
naturally established in another part of the same vast structure. As 
the university grew and expanded it was the faculties of medicine 
and engineering that removed to modern quarters, while the second- 



TJNIVEKSITY OEGANIZATION. 35 

ary school remained and shared the old convent with the faculty of 
law and the remnants of the faculty of philosophy and letters. This 
condition has not yet entirely disappeared, and even where it no 
longer exists customs engendered by it have nevertheless persisted. 
Close proximity brought mutual relations. A professor in a faculty 
not infrequently occupied a corresponding chair in the liceo, and 
in the public mind both institutions were looked upon as of the same 
grade. 

Movement in favor of preparatory schools. — In administration, 
however, university and secondary schools continued distinct. It 
is only recently that a tendency has developed in the university in 
favor of creating a special preparatory department. The movement 
is in no sense local, but the manner of effecting the reform has as- 
sumed different aspects in different States. Argentina was the first 
to give the movement tangible form. The policy was strongly advo- 
cated by the new University of La Plata, which was founded for the 
purpose of promoting in Argentina the modern spirit of scientific 
study, and not as a mere group of affiliated professional schools, as 
were the old universities. The faculty of La Plata contended that 
in order to foster scholarly ideals and to prepare its future students 
for the scientific studies of the university a special preparatory 
school was a necessity. Accordingly, in 1907, the department of 
public instruction transferred to the three national universities the 
liceos of Cordoba, Buenos Aires, and La Plata, to be conducted by 
them as preparatory departments, while at the same time retaining 
their character of national high schools. 

The liceo of Cordoba, which adjoins the university, had always 
maintained a close alliance with the higher institution, and the official 
action of 1907 changed its position more in name than in fact. In 
Buenos Aires the situation was different, and the difficulties that arose 
retarded the actual transfer there until 1911. It was urged with 
reason that if the university required a special preparatory depart- 
ment, it would be better to create such a school ; that to combine the 
two forms of education would denature both; and that the old 
national high school possessed a history that could ill be lost. In 
La Plata all was comparatively new, both liceo and university, so 
that no difficulty was experienced in the change of administration, 
and the preparatory department has from the first been a decided 
success. 

A similar school for girls was established at the same time. The 
preparatory departments are not coeducational, but women are ad- 
mitted to the university proper, and in some departments they enroll 
in large numbers. The two preparatory schools have their own 
principals, but these officials are responsible to the clean of the depart- 
ment of pedagogy, and the avowed object of the university is to use 



36 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

the preparatory departments as model schools for its teachers' col- 
lege. One of the ambitions of the university is to train teachers who 
will make teaching their sole profession; hence its large interest in 
its secondary school and its intense desire to make of it a model liceo 
in all senses of the term. In order to further enhance the utility of 
the boys' preparatory school, it has recently inaugurated on a limited 
scale the cottage system. Two cottages have been built, each hous- 
ing about 35 boys, who live together as a self-governing community, 
each presided over by a " house father," who is at the same time a 
professor in the liceo. 

As stated above, the three university preparatory departments are 
to retain the character of national high schools, and their studies 
are to be so ordered that a student may pass from any national sec- 
ondary school into the corresponding class of the university school 
without loss of time or standing. This regulation prevents the uni- 
versities from arranging the curriculum with the exclusive view of 
higher education, since the national high-school course is uniform 
throughout the five years. However, the universities have been per- 
mitted to extend their secondary school course to six years, and in 
the last year they arrange several parallel lines of study adapted to 
entrance into the various faculties of the university. Notwithstand- 
ing these concessions to the universities, the question is still unsettled 
in Argentina, and the faculty of La Plata at its last convocation 
voted in favor of a distinct intermediate course between the high 
school and professional studies. 

The Chilean project. — In educational circles in Chile a project is 
under discussion for organizing a junior university which students 
may attend for two years following their secondary training. The 
object of the institution will be to prepare the student for the par- 
ticular faculty in which he expects to matriculate. The school will 
have three or four separate and parallel courses; some subjects will 
be common to all and others will be designed to give special prepara- 
tion in the line the student elects. This plan, if adopted, would cor- 
respond very closely to the practice which now obtains in the best 
American universities of requiring at least two years in the college 
before admission to the professional school. It is contended in 
Chile that for the two years spent in the junior university a corre- 
sponding reduction of time could be made in the professional schools 
without loss to professional training. A further argument in favor 
of the project is that many separate laboratories now maintained in 
different schools could be combined, which would result in greater 
efficiency of laboratory studies and in greater economy of installation 
and maintenance. 

The TJ Uruguay an plan. — Uruguay has already adopted a similar 
plan, but without attempting to reduce the length of the professional 



University organization. 37 

courses. There, as elsewhere in Latin America, a strong effort is 
making to lessen the number of young men entering the liberal pro- 
fessions, and one of the means employed is to lengthen the time 
required to obtain a professional title. The Uruguayan reform goes 
into operation in 1912, but its provisions will not be retroactive, i. e., 
students who entered the national high school before 1912 will enter 
the professional faculties under the old requirements. Some years 
must therefore elapse before the results can be properly judged. The 
two years of additional studies, to be known as the National Pre- 
paratory School, will comprise three lines of study, leading, respec- 
tively, to the three faculties of law, medicine, and engineering. Some 
studies will, of course, be common to all. The faculty will be of uni- 
versity grade, but the work will be done in the national liceo of Mon- 
tevideo, which occupies a block adjoining the university proper, and 
with its new building and complete scientific equipment is admirably 
adapted to inaugurate the new policy. 

The problem involved in all these different projects and reforms 
is the same that has agitated American schoolmen and the public 
for the past two decades: Can the high school and the university 
preparatory school be successfully combined? In the United States 
the question has been tentatively answered in the affirmative, but 
there is always a likelihood that the vote will be reconsidered. In 
South America the question is apparently being answered in the 
negative. 



CHAPTER IV. 

UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS. 

In the matter of material equipment there is a wide divergence of 
conditions in Latin- American universities. The first universities, 
founded by the church, adopted the European monastic type of archi- 
tecture as well as of organization. When, in the nineteenth century, 
they became secular and national, the State appropriated the build- 
ings as well as the institution, and studies were continued in the same 
monastic environment. The old monasteries were so solidly con- 
structed and have resisted so well the ravages of time and the ele- 
ments that many stand to-day as firm as three centuries ago, and 
still serve for some part of the university work. 

Universities and faculties established in the era of national inde- 
pendence or in the decades immediately following were usually 
housed in monasteries confiscated by the State, and were often less 
fortunate in their location than the old universities. The latter 
possessed monastic quarters built for school purposes; the newer 
faculties were sometimes placed in convents that were not primarily 
designed for scholastic uses. 

Modern buildings for medical schools. — During the past century 
there has been a fluctuating evolution toward modern conditions — an 
evolution controlled by the expansion of the university, by the re- 
sources of the State, and by interest in higher education. The old 
cloistered convents were not ill suited to the first studies pursued in 
the universities. The faculties of philosophy, letters, theology, and 
law could be conducted without serious disadvantage in the ancient 
monasteries, but with the rise of medical and scientific faculties not 
only the increased number of students and professors, but also the 
very nature of the studies, required enlarged and different buildings. 
The medical faculty was usually the first favored, and for it were 
built modern and commodious quarters. In some States this enlarge- 
ment and modernization of the medical school buildings began a half 
century ago; in others it has come in the last decades. Even the 
smaller countries show a lively interest in medical education and have 
followed the general movement for providing the best material 
facilities. Uruguay has recently completed a magnificent medical 
college, built after the most approved plans and furnished with a 
thoroughly modern equipment. Salvador is building beside her 
38 



UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS. 39 

splendid hospital a home for the medical faculty of her university 
that will reflect great credit on that sturdy little Republic. In gen- 
eral, it may be stated that the Spanish- American medical college of 
to-day enjoys adequate facilities, and indeed some schools are almost 
luxuriously housed. 

The engineering school. — The formation of a school of engineering, 
sometimes established as an independent institution, but usually de- 
veloped from the faculty of pure sciences, demanded more space and 
different conditions than were afforded in the old university home. 
A separate building was the natural solution of the new problem, and 
in this way there frequently came another material growth in the 
university. The engineering schools can not boast of buildings as 
palatial as those of several medical faculties, but in all the larger 
universities they occupy separate quarters and possess the necessary 
facilities for the prosecution of their work. In those institutions 
where increase in numbers has not necessitated greatly enlarged facili- 
ties the ancient buildings are still much in evidence. The fagade 
may have been changed to present a modern appearance, but within 
are vaulted roofs and cloistered patios indicative of the history of the 
building and even of the institution itself. 

Notwithstanding the material progress that has marked the past 
few decades, the demolition of ancient structures and the erection of 
new ones, there are but few of the older institutions in which some 
remnant of monastic architecture may not be found. Even in such 
a thoroughly modern university as that of Buenos Aires it is not 
wanting. In the center of the irregular block of buildings that con- 
stitute the engineering school, surrounded by constructions of com- 
paratively recent date, stands the thick-walled, arch-roofed chapel of 
a colonial convent, now used as a chemical laboratory. 

Modern buildings. — The States have usually been generous in the 
material equipment of the universities. Interest in higher education 
preceded, as a rule, the development of primary schools. The first 
quarters of the universities corresponded adequately to the require- 
ments of the times. With changing conditions the States responded 
whenever national resources permitted. In proportion to wealth and 
revenue, the expenditures for buildings and equipment for higher 
education during the past decades will compare favorably with that 
expended for the same purposes by North American Commonwealths. 
Few Latin- American universities have been the recipients of private 
benefactions. National or local governments have borne not only 
the current expenses of higher education, but have also provided the 
original equipment, which represents a very considerable sum. The 
value of the grounds^ buildings, and equipment of the University of 
La Plata is estimated at $10,000,000. The new medical school of 
La Paz was provided with a suitable building in 1909 at a cost of 



40 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

$60,000. A like sum is to be expended in the erection of the new 
pavilion of the medical college at Lima. Uruguay has appropriated 
$240,000 for the College of Veterinary Surgery, after having just 
spent more than a million in new buildings for the National Univer- 
sity and the Agricultural College. Thirty years ago Venezuela 
renovated the old university building at Caracas and added a new 
wing for the engineering department. More recently a new hospital 
and special laboratories for the medical school have been erected on 
the outskirts of the city. Mention has already been made of the new 
medical college building in Salvador. Some years ago the Medical 
College of Bahia, in Brazil, was almost entirely rebuilt and enlarged. 
The Law School of Recife has just taken possession of a magnificent 
structure. Sao Paulo has provided its Polytechnic Institute with a 
splendid building and material equipment. The National Govern- 
ment erected one new laboratory for the Medical College of Rio de 
Janeiro some years ago, and has just appropriated a large sum for 
the construction of a modern building on the site of the old convent 
that the school has occupied for a century. These are but examples 
of what the different Latin-American countries have done and are 
doing toward equipping their institutions of higher learning. The 
financial burden involved in this extensive plan of building appears 
even greater when it is known that the current expenses of the univer- 
sities are large and the cost per student greater than in the State 
universities of the United States. 



CHAPTER V. 

BUDGETS AND SALARIES. 

The Latin- American Republics believe so strongly in the efficiency 
of higher education that they are content to pay the cost however 
great, and both in proportion to the total revenue and to the amount 
expended for education of all grades, the sums destined for the uni- 
versities appear strikingly large. In justification it can be urged 
that these institutions are something more than mere schools. On 
the one hand, they are administrative departments of the State, 
directing and controlling the professions, and, on the other, they 
partake of the nature of academies fostering general culture in coun- 
tries where the agencies that make for culture are not as numerous 
or as pervasive as in older nations. Such functions deserve liberal 
support from the State. 

Reasons for favoring the universities. — The fact that the univer- 
sities are designed especially for the education of the upper classes 
is another reason that explains the liberality of the State. The same 
classes that govern the country profit most from the advantages of 
the university. However, selfishness is not the only motive for the 
liberality exhibited, for some States support just as generously 
institutions for the special education of the lower classes, such as 
trades and commercial schools. The explanation is rather to be 
sought in the paternal character of Latin- American government. 
Private and individual initiative are little esteemed. In every enter- 
prise of importance the State is expected to take the lead. In a mat- 
ter so transcendent as professional education (and, as previously 
explained, the universities are almost exclusively prof essional schools), 
no power but the State is considered worthy of leadership. Distrust 
of the church is another impelling influence. The ruling classes all 
pass through the university, and the Republics desire that they come 
to their task free from the bias of ecclesiasticism, which unfortu- 
nately is considered inimical to republican institutions. 

Annual budgets. — The annual appropriation for the current ex- 
penses of university education in different representative countries 
will convey an idea of the generosity of the States in this branch of 
public instruction. Ecuador expends $125,000, with an enrollment 
of 340 students. Argentina devotes more than two millions with a 
student enrollment of 7,000. This figure does not include the income 

41 



42 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

derived by the universities from endowments and matriculation and 
examination fees. The University of Buenos Aires expends annu- 
ally about a million, and the University of La Plata a like sum. For 
the University of Chile the annual current expenses amount to 
$375,000. 

The three professional schools of the University of Montevideo, 
which enroll about 800 students, receive annually from the State some 
$250,000, while for the agricultural and veterinary schools there is 
appropriated $75,000 more. In Mexico the budget for the university 
at the capital alone in 1911 amounted to $335,000. 

Proportional cost and enrollment. — The cost per student is greater 
than in the State universities of the United States. This fact is 
explained in part by the virtual absence from the Latin-American 
university of the college of liberal arts, which in North America 
includes such a large proportion of the total student population. 
Professional schools, especially the schools of medicine and engineer- 
ing, are more expensive both in equipment and maintenance than a 
faculty of arts. On the other hand, conditions of climate and temper- 
ature render the upkeep of the average Latin- American institution 
much less onerous, and as there is no campus another element of con- 
stant expense is eliminated. The fact that there are many institu- 
tions with a very small enrollment would tend to raise the average 
cost per student, but this disadvantage is counterbalanced by the 
other fact that most of the small institutions are schools of law only, 
and the law faculty is the least expensive to install and operate. 

Large teaching staff. — The real explanation of what appears to 
be the excessive cost of higher education in Latin America is the 
form of organization. The personnel is too numerous, from servants 
and janitors through all the hierarchy up to the administrative 
officers themselves. The system of dividing instruction into small 
parts and assigning but one part to an instructor necessitates a large 
professorial staff, and even if the pay of each is modest the total 
cost to the institution is greater than if a few devoted all their time 
to instruction and were paid a liberal salary. In the schools of 
engineering and achitecture of Santiago there are 400 students and 75 
instructors. The schools of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, etc., en- 
roll some 700 students, while the teaching and administrative staff 
number about 140. And yet in this respect conditions are better in 
Chile than in many other countries. In the University of Guayaquil, 
one-third of the total revenue is spent in administration, and with 
something fewer than 100 students there are no less than 18 pro- 
fessors. 

Few teaching hours. — The conditions of instruction in the Latin- 
American university do not, however, arise from excessive salaries, 
but from excessive subdivision of the work and the little time that 



BUDGETS AND SALAKIES. 



43 



is required of each instructor. Salaries vary enormously, not so 
much on their face however as in relation to the teaching hours. 
Usually they are estimated by the month, and payable for each of the 
12 months. A few examples drawn from different countries and 
representative institutions may be instructive. 

Professors' salaries. 



Salary 

per 
month. 



Hours 
per 



University of Guayaquil 

University of Cordoba 

University of Cuzeo 

University of Buenos Aires. 
University of Montevideo.. 

University of Santiago 

Law faculties of Brazil 



SI 00 

120 
50 
120 
100 
100 
250 



These figures are necessarily approximations, since in some institu- 
tions salaries are not uniform. In certain departments they may be 
higher than in others. There may also be a graduated scale of in- 
crease depending on the length of service. In a general table it is 
impossible to take into account all such details, but notwithstanding 
these reservations the figures are sufficiently accurate. In striking 
averages, no account has been taken of salaries paid to foreign pro- 
fessors contracted for by the Government for special service. These 
men receive much larger salaries and are supposed to give all their 
time to instruction, investigation, or administration; hence they fall 
outside the realm of the present comparison. 

Some comparisons. — The small salary, the few hours devoted to 
teaching, the subdivisions in the subjects taught, and the tradition 
of but one subdivision to a professor are all interrelated parts of a 
system that seriously hampers university instruction. The professor 
is assigned few lecture hours, not that he may have time for study and 
independent investigation, but because tradition., or the law, forbids 
a plurality of chairs. In a small law school, such as that in the 
University of Cordoba, there are 2 professors of Eoman law, 2 of com- 
mercial law, 2 of international law, 2 of legal procedure, and 4 
of civil law, i. e., a separate instructor for each year that the subject 
is studied. If a professor were to confine himself to teaching as his 
only profession, the salary would be insufficient for a livelihood. He 
is not underpaid in proportion to the time he gives to the university, 
but he would be badly underpaid if he gave all his time and received 
no greater salary than at present. It will be noticed from the table 
above that in the larger institutions, located in important centers, the 
average stipend for a three-hour course is $100. If the professor 
taught 10 or 12 hours (which may be taken as a low average in the 
North American State universities), a proportionate remuneration 



44 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

would bring his annual salary to $4,000 and upward, which is larger 
than in similar institutions in the United States. The Spanish- 
American universities have been slow to see that a teaching profes- 
sion devoted solely to the one vocation would raise the standard of 
instruction and at the same time provide a body of scholars that 
would pursue independent scientific investigations and reflect credit 
on their countries in the learned world. Few scholarly and scientific 
works are produced in Latin America, partly because there are no 
men who can devote their entire time and talents to scholarship or 
science. The need of such work is felt, but the learned institutions 
have not shaped their organization in a way to make it feasible. In 
late years La Plata has done something by emphasizing the scientific 
spirit, but it is hampered in its struggle by the retention in large 
measure of the traditional practice of subdivided chairs. 

The Uruguayan policy. — It has remained for the University of 
Montevideo to recognize the root of the evil and to inaugurate a dif- 
ferent policy. A law promulgated in 1911 authorizes an increasing 
scale of salaries for those professors who devote all their time to 
scholastic pursuits and produce works or conduct scientific investi- 
gations of recognized merit. During a period of four years the salary 
will remain $100 per month, as at present, but after that time it may 
be doubled if the professor meets the requirements of the law. A 
second increase of $100 may be granted after a further period of 
three years, providing the professor continues scholarly work, and 
even a third is possible after another three years. It will be possible, 
therefore, for an instructor to attain after a few years a salary of 
almost $5,000. It will be noted that the teaching hours are not in- 
creased ; the premium is conditioned solely on " production," al- 
though it is stipulated that instruction must be satisfactory. It is 
reserved for the faculty itself to judge whether a professor meets 
the conditions of the law. and this decision is controlled by the uni- 
versity council and the rector. It is in this provision that the new 
policy is probably the weakest, and it remains for experience to show 
whether the regulation can be administered with justice and impar- 
tiality. 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE LAW FACULTY. 

This department has constituted since the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century the veritable nucleus of the Spanish-American uni- 
versity. It differs widely from the North American law school in 
methods, curriculum, and purpose. The difference is manifested in 
the very name of the department — Faculty of jurisprudence, as in 
Peru, Mexico, and other States, or faculty of juridical and social 
sciences, as in Argentina, Brazil, etc., or faculty of law and political 
and social sciences, as in Chile and some other countries. In very 
few countries is the official nomenclature simply " school of law." 
As the various names imply, the institution is designed to be a school 
of wider range than the American law school, less practical and more 
educative, less professional and more philosophical. The predomi- 
nance of the law school has in recent years been seriously challenged 
in the largest universities by the faculty of medicine. The enroll- 
ment and influence of the latter have increased in much greater ratio 
on account of the concentration of medical studies in one institution. 
Law studies, however, are pursued in all universities, not to mention 
the many separate schools of law. Another reason for the rapid 
growth of the great medical faculties is the existence of affiliated 
schools of pharmacy and dentistry. For these reasons the enrollment 
of students in the medical faculty of Buenos Aires is more than twice 
the number in law, while in Santiago and Lima the numbers are 
about equal. Historically, however, the law faculty enjoys a great 
prestige, and the legal profession is the most aristocratic of all 
callings. 

Physical equipment and libraries. — In the matter of material 
equipment the law school is the least favored of all the faculties. 
Since its activities have not developed peculiar physical needs, it has 
either been retained in the original monastic quarters of the old uni- 
versity home or been relegated to a rented building that has no 
scholastic atmosphere and is often ill suited to the needs of the school. 
These undesirable conditions are liable to continue, for the desire of 
the Governments is to encourage scientific studies, and the moneys 
available for educational purposes are diverted in this direction. The 
law school is already too popular. 

45 



46 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

In one particular, however, the equipment of the law faculty is 
generally good. On account of its long history and the commanding 
position it has held, the faculty has in many universities accumulated 
a large library. The collections are frequently housed badly and 
lack proper classification and a ready catalogue, but the number of 
volumes is large, and, while it is in administration a department 
library, on account of the composite nature of the Latin- American 
law school it is far from being strictly technical. Literary works 
abound, especially the modern classics of all literatures either in the 
original or in translation. History is well represented. Philosophy 
receives large space. Works on economics, finance, and sociology 
have been added in large numbers in the past decades, while the 
dependence of Latin- American codes on the Napoleonic digest has 
led to the acquisition of great numbers of French works, both tech- 
nical and general, on all phases of law. 

Organization. — The variety in names applied to the faculty in 
different countries arises in part from the existence of two distinct 
forms of organization. In some States, as in Peru, for example, 
there are two coordinate faculties — the faculty of jurisprudence, the 
original school, with a five-year course embracing only legal and 
juridical studies; and the faculty of political and administrative 
sciences, with a three-year course comprising economic, constitutional, 
international, and legislative studies. In other countries, as in Brazil 
and elsewhere, the two faculties are combined, but very considerable 
importance is ascribed to subjects of economic and sociological im- 
port. The course of study in some countries extends over five years, 
as in a faculty of jurisprudence, but in others it comprises six. In 
1909 the University of Buenos Aires revised the curriculum, retain- 
ing six years for the regular course, but adding a seventh for the 
doctorate of jurisprudence. Brazil has recently increased the law 
course from five to six years. In the past decade there has been 
manifest a general movement in favor of lengthening the law course. 
The limit has probably been reached in Salvador, where the term 
has been increased from seven to eight years. The avowed object was 
to render the study unattractive to young men and drive them into 
vocations of greater utility to the State. It was the same motive 
that prompted the last increase in Brazil and the additional year for 
the doctorate in Buenos Aires. The degree of doctor of jurispru- 
dence has long been a special mark of aristocracy in Latin America. 
In 1912 Honduras forbade further matriculation in her law school 
for a term of two years, and Ecuador has seriously considered the 
advisability of closing the law schools entirely for a time. 

Curricula. — While there is necessarily a considerable uniformity 
in the curricula of different countries, the differences that do exist are 
all the more noteworthy, since traditions and ideals have been the 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 10 











: *' 



A. GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR MEN, BUENOS AIRES. 




B. VESTIBULE AND PATIO OF THE AMPHITHEATER OF THE NATIONAL 
PREPARATORY SCHOOL, MEXICO CITY. 



UREAL! OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 11 




A. THE PERNAMBUCO (BRAZIL) LAW SCHOOL, APPROACHING COMPLETION. 




B. NEW BUILDING DESIGNED FOR THE LAW DEPARTMENT OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 12 




A. A PORTAL OF THE LAW COLLEGE, GUATEMALA CITY. 



% 




k EKK 1 gra 


H! Hkauab 


i 


IIP ^ 















B. THE "SALON DE ACTOS " OF THE LAW COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY 
OF SAN MARCOS, LIMA, PERU. 



THE LAW FACULTY. 



47 



same in all and all have received their greatest inspiration from 
the one source — the law faculty of the University of Paris. 

The three following curricula are representative and give a fair 
conception of the subjects taught, the order of their presentation, and 
the time given to each. Three lessons per week may be assumed as 
the schedule of a course, but in a few schools there are more, as in 
Brazilian faculties. What the bare curriculum does not indicate is 
the extent and content of a given subject. These points are por- 
trayed in great detail in the programa published for each subject, 
but the length of these documents excludes their reproduction in a 
work of this nature; and although they provide a valuable syllabus 
for the student, they do not always indicate the real content of the 

lectures. 

Representative Law Curricula. 



Sao Paulo. 

General introduction to study 
ol law. Public and con- 
stitutional law. 



International law, public, 
private, and diplomatic. 
Administrative law. Po- 
litical economy and finance. 



FIRST YEAR. 

Buenos Aires 

General introduction to study 
of law. Psychology. Roman 
law (first course) . 

SECOND YEAR. 

Roman law (second course), j Civil law (first course) . Crim- 

Civil law (first course). Pub- | inal law (second course). 

lie international law. Po- I Roman law (second course) . 

litical economy. ! 



San Jose (Costa Rica). 

Civil law (first course). Crim- 
inal law (first course). Ro- 
man law (first course). 



Roman law. Criminal law 
first course). Civil law 
(the family) . 



Criminal law (continued). 
Civil law (real property). 
Commercial law (first 
course) . 



Civil law (inheritances) . Com- 
mercial law (continued). 
Medical jurisprudence. 



Theory and practice of legal 
procedure, civil, commer- 
cial, criminal. 



THIRD YEAR. 

Civil law (second course). 
Criminal law. Finance. 
Constitutional law. 

FOORTH YEAR. 

Civil law (third course). 
Commercial 1 a w (first 
course). Administrative 
law. Mining, rural, and 
industrial legislation. 

FIFTH YEAR. 

Civil law (fourth course). 
Commercial 1 a w (second 
course). Legal procedure. 
Philosophy of law (first 
course) . 

SIXTH YEAR. 

Philosophy of law (second 
course). Legal procedure. 
Private international law. 
Practice in legal procedure. 



Civil law (third course) . Com- 
mercial law (first course). 
Public law. 



Civil law (fourth course). 
Commercial law (second 
course). Administrative 
law. 



Civil-law procedure. Politi- 
cal economy. Administra- 
tive law. 



Criminal-law procedure. His- 
tory of law. 



The seventh year required for the doctorate in the University of 
Buenos Aires contains seven courses, of which the student elects four. 
The subjects offered are as follows : Comparative history of modern 
public law, evolution of the institutions of modern private law, gen- 
eral economic evolution, comparative administrative law, organiza- 
tion and functions of public instruction, constitutional history of 
Argentina, political economy as applied to Argentina. 

Aims of the law school. — It will be observed from this list of elec- 
tives for the doctorate, as well as from the regular curriculum of the 
65993°— 13 1 



48 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

three schools given above, that the Latin-American law school lays 
almost as much stress on the training of public leaders, legislators, 
and administrative officers as upon the education of lawyers and 
jurists. It is this policy that has prompted the formation in many 
countries of the faculty of political sciences by the side of the old 
faculty of jurisprudence. In such universities the student of law 
usually takes in addition to his legal studies some or all of the course 
in the parallel faculty, but the shorter course of three years in the 
school of political science forms a good education for young men ex- 
pecting to enter business or public life. It may be even questioned 
whether a liberal education in political science : political economy, 
finance, sociology, commercial, administrative, and international law 
does not constitute a better training for public life than the technical 
study of law pure and simple. Latin-American schools attempt to 
provide both forms, either in a combined course or in separate but 
affiliated faculties. 

The training of diplomatic and consular officers is another avowed 
function of these schools. The separate faculties of political science 
place large emphasis on this feature of their work, while some of the 
other institutions offer a special course for this express purpose. 
The law school of Buenos Aires contains a special department extend- 
ing over two years with four courses in the first year and five in the 
second. They include civil, constitutional, maritime, and interna- 
tional law, diplomacy, political economy, finance, statistics, tariff and 
consular legislation, and consular notary usages. In other institu- 
tions that do not maintain a distinct division for this purpose a 
student will find all the necessary courses for the training he desires 
and can select what he requires without being a candidate for a 
degree. 

Another department in the school of Buenos Aires is a two-year 
section for training in administration. This division involves the 
giving of but one or two special courses; the others are selected from 
the regular curriculum. 

All schools of law in Latin America include a department for the 
training of notaries, which is a distinct profession, as in France and 
other European countries. The course is almost uniformly of three 
years, embracing most of the strictly legal courses but omitting the 
studies in the history and philosophy of law and jurisprudence. It 
is to all intents and purposes a practical course in law, and, with the 
exception of studies in criminal law, pleading, and moot-court prac- 
tice, is as comprehensive a study of law as that offered formerly in 
the United States in the two-year law schools. 

Practical training minimized. — The courses in legal procedure are 
both theoretic and practical, but the tendency here, as in Latin- 
American instruction of all grades and schools, is to put the emphasis 



THE LAW FACULTY. 49 

on theory. Many law schools frankly admit that in spite of the long 
course of five or more years they do not aim to prepare the graduate 
in juridical science for the practice of law. He is expected to acquire 
skill in the everyday conduct of his profession by serving an appren- 
ticeship in an attorney's office, either during or after his university 
studies. The law school of the University of Lima requires specifi- 
cally such an apprenticeship before the degree is conferred. An at- 
torney acceptable to the faculty receives the student into his office and 
at the end of the apprenticeship attests to the faculty the assiduity 
and practical experience of the student. Other institutions have 
similar or equivalent requirements. In Guatemala the student must 
spend a certain period in one or another of the lower courts studying 
legal forms. His presence in this case is vouched for by the magis- 
trate. In Venezuela a law student is permitted during the last years 
of his course to practice in the lowest courts, and in this way he is 
expected to gain additional practical training. A recent regulation 
in Colombia requires the law graduate to practice his profession two 
years before receiving the doctorate. 

Bar associations. — The close relationship existing between the law 
school and the bar association which is implied in such requirements 
as have just been outlined is everywhere obvious. It is the easier to 
establish and maintain, since legal education has been a State monop- 
oly. The school is either maintained or subsidized by the Govern- 
ment. In either case the State retains ultimate control. In the case 
of the Catholic University at Santiago de Chile, which maintains a 
law faculty, the instruction is given wholly under the direction of 
the Catholic institution, but students take their examinations at the 
National University. Each center of importance has its bar associ- 
ation (usually called Colegio de Abogados), which is a well-estab- 
lished corporation controlling the practice of law in its locality and 
closely connected with the law school. It is not surprising therefore 
that the faculty can make use of local attorneys for the practical 
training of its students. In some instances, as in Costa Rica, it is 
the Colegio de Abogados that organizes and conducts the law school. 
The corporation usually receives a small subsidy from the State to 
aid in its enterprise. 

General culture courses. — The law faculty in Latin America per- 
forms not only the function of a school of law and jurisprudence, or 
even that of a school of jurisprudence and social sciences, but it is 
also an institution of general culture, and in the education of men it 
takes the place in large measure of the American college of liberal 
arts. The representative curricula given on a preceding page in- 
clude such subjects as psychology, sociology, political economy, 
finance, and political science. Some schools even maintain courses 
in local history and in Spanish and Spanish-American literature, 



50 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

Certain other courses uniformly found in the law schools are much 
less technical and special than their names would perhaps indicate. 
Roman law often becomes merely a study of the evolution of Roman 
institutions, an interesting combination of constitutional history and 
Roman daily life. Likewise, the course in the philosophy of law 
easily becomes a history of civilization. The utility of all these sub- 
jects for a student of jurisprudence is unquestioned, and no criticism 
of or excuse for their presence in the curriculum is intended. The 
purpose in enumerating here the subjects and analyzing their nature 
is merely to emphasize the large nonprofessional element in the 
Latin- American law curriculum. In the school of Buenos Aires it 
will be observed that fully one-third of the subjects are of this char- 
acter. The decadence of the faculty of letters and philosophy in 
most universities is coincident with the development of a liberal cur- 
ricula in the law school, but it would be difficult to prove whether 
this decadence was historically the cause or the result. 

As constituted to-day the faculty of jurisprudence is almost as 
much cultural as technical. Unless a young man purposes to follow 
a scientific career, he will find in the law college a happy combina- 
tion of liberal, legal, and civic studies that afford a cultured, civic 
training, and at the same time give him an honored profession that 
may be applied either in legal practice or in public life. The nature 
of the course, as well as social conditions, explains why so large a 
percentage of law graduates do not follow the regular practice of 
the profession. The proportion varies in different countries. It is 
commonly estimated at 50 per cent, but sometimes as high as 80. No 
accurate study has apparently been made of the question, and formal 
statistics have not been compiled. 

Duration of studies and methods of instruction. — The composite 
nature of the curriculum accounts also for the length of the course. 
A minimum of five years (except in La Plata), extended to six in 
several countries and even to eight in one, is out of proportion to the 
time allotted to legal studies by most nations, and also out of 
proportion to the time prescribed for scientific professions in 
Latin America. The well-to-do students, who constitute the great 
majority, do not object to the long course, and the few who can ill 
afford to spend so much time in acquiring a profession can elect the 
shorter course of practical law and content themselves with the title 
of notary. As indicated by the curricula cited, the subjects are taken 
up in a leisurely manner; only three per year in Brazil, four in 
Argentina, and three in Costa Rica. The lectures to be attended each 
week are therefore usually 12 and sometimes not more than 9 (in 
Brazil, however, 15). As they are not followed by quizzes they may 
be more or less neglected by the careless student who can compensate 
for his everyday negligence by skillful " cramming " for the year- 



THE LAW FACULTY. 51 

end examination. Every course of lectures is supplemented by a 
printed programa enumerating each and all the several topics on 
which the lecturer will touch. This constitutes an invaluable sylla- 
bus for a diligent and inquiring student. By attending lectures with 
even a moderate degree of regularity, and by pursuing parallel 
courses of reading, the student can acquire during the long course of 
study of the law school great breadth of learning in both technical 
and liberal studies. On the other hand, the lack of control through 
recitations and through frequent quizzes encourages the careless 
student to neglect his opportunities and waste his time. As he 
almost invariably enters the law faculty directly from the secondary 
school, he possesses neither the age nor the experience in independent 
study consistent with the method to which he is now subjected. The 
" case system," or any modification of it, is not used in Latin Amer- 
ica. Instruction is systematic and deductive. 

The prominence of the lecture method, with the corresponding 
neglect of recitations and quizzes, has an influence beyond the law 
school in another branch of public education where its utility is less 
defensible. Many teachers of history, geography, literature, philoso- 
phy, etc., in the secondary schools are graduates of the law college. 
They are naturally prone to apply in the secondary school the same 
method of instruction in which they themselves were trained in their 
legal studies, and whatever may be thought of the lecture method in 
professional schools it is certainly ill adapted to schools of lower 
rank. 

Advantages of the law curriculum. — The law school considered 
purely as a liberal arts college, as in fact it is for many of its stu- 
dents, presents a decided disadvantage in that it contains no studies 
in mathematics and in natural and experimental sciences. As, at 
present constituted, it gives the student's mind but one bent, i. e., 
toward the so-called cultured studies. If he is not to practice law 
(and many do not) , if his education is to fit him for useful service in 
society, this usefulness would be much enhanced by a training in 
which social sciences were more evenly balanced with experimental 
sciences, and especially by a more appreciative attitude toward scien- 
tific activities which are the basic element of industrial and economic 
progress. 

Considered, however, as a law school or as a school of political 
science, the composite character of the curriculum presents many ad- 
vantages. For the lawyer it tempers the asperities and technicalities 
of legal procedure with a broadening insight into social institutions, 
an ideal of social equity and a comprehensive conception of political 
organization and administration. For the future citizen and man of 
public life it limits Utopian theories by the knowledge of social evo- 
lution and the conservative influence of legal codes. 



52 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

The La Plata plan. — The curriculum of the law faculty in the Uni- 
versity of La Plata has already been referred to as exceptional. Its 
peculiar characteristics are the shortening of the term, the more 
strictly professional nature of the course, and the longer time and 
greater importance given to the studies for the doctorate. The pro- 
fessional course is condensed into four years by the omission of sev- 
eral nonprofessional studies, such as political economy, statistics, etc., 
by the exclusion of certain theoretic subjects, such as the philosophy 
of law, and by greater intensity in the work. Instead of three or four 
courses a year, La Plata requires four and five. For purposes of de- 
tailed comparison the full curriculum is inserted : 

First year: Sociology and history of Argentina, history of Roman law, con- 
stitutional history of Argentina, and Argentine civil law. 

Second year: Argentine civil law (continued), Argentine commercial law, 
administrative legislation, constitutional law, public documents and records. 

Third year : Comparative civil law, comparative commercial law, industrial 
and rural legislation, Argentine criminal law, local public law (rights, privi- 
leges, and duties of the Argentine Confederated Provinces). 

Fourth year: Comparative civil law (continued), judicial organization (civil 
and commercial law procedure), judicial organization (criminal-law procedure), 
public international law, private international law. 

It will be noticed that the curriculum is more concrete. It begins 
with the facts of history and local codes, reserving for later years 
comparative studies, while the usual course in the philosophy of law 
has disappeared entirely. The studies in civil and commercial law 
occupy only half the time accorded to them in the neighboring Uni- 
versity of Buenos Aires. In Latin-American universities in general 
there is undoubtedly room for greater intensity in study ., especially 
in tl^e law school. Students are tempted to consider their studies as 
a recreation rather than a business. In this respect the Latin- Ameri- 
can university, and most of all the law faculty, resembles the North 
American college of liberal arts and differs from the professional 
school where intense application is the rule. The cycle of four years 
in La Plata leads to the professional title of attorney only. The 
studies of two additional years for the doctorate are as follows : 

First year : Political economy, diplomatic history, comparative legislative 
law, and theories, criticisms, and comparative legislation in criminology. 

Second year : History of representative institutions, political economy, finance, 
statistics, and economic geography. 

The characteristic of this grouping is that practically all the lib- 
eral, nonprofessional studies have been reserved for the upper cycle, 
and that they are subjects that are capable of unlimited and inde- 
pendent investigation. This harmonizes with the general policy of 
La Plata, which aims not so much to prepare for the professions, but 
rather to foster scientific inquiry and advanced scholarship. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FACULTY OF MEDICINE. 

Medical education is well ordered in Latin America, and this de- 
partment of the university deserves great credit. The State has 
exercised a rigid monopoly, and this fact, joined with the relatively 
large expense of installing and equipping a medical college, has 
limited the number of such institutions and has enabled the faculties 
created to establish good • standards of scholarship and to enforce 
stringent regulations for the practice of medicine. Until the year 
1899 Brazil, with its vast territory and (at that time) nearly 20,000,- 
000 inhabitants had only two schools of medicine ; even to-day it has 
but three. Argentina has but two, and would perhaps have but one 
were it not for historic reasons. Bolivia and Ecuador each maintain 
two, and Colombia three, which are in part justified by the difficul- 
ties of communication in these States, although in Peru, where the 
distances are as great and the topography of the country as broken, 
it has been found feasibleMo concentrate all medical studies in one 
university. Mexico has six provincial medical schools in addition to 
the larger one at the capital, and in Venezuela there is a partial 
school of medicine at Maracaibo, but students go to Caracas to com- 
plete their studies and to receive their degree. In no other country 
of Latin America is there more than a single school of medicine. 

Equipment. — The limited number of institutions has enabled the 
States, even the smallest, to equip the medical schools remarkably 
well. Almost everywhere the buildings are of modern construction. 
The school at Eio de Janeiro is the only one of the large institutions 
that has remained in old monastic quarters, and money has recently 
been appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings there. In 
some of the smaller schools, such as Cordoba, Caracas, and others, 
lectures are still given in the old colonial monastery, but new labora- 
tory buildings have been provided. The laboratories are often found 
at some distance from the old university, in a quarter of the city 
more favorable for such studies, and this has proved to be but the 
first step toward the removal of the entire medical faculty from the 
old location. At Lima the medical college buildings, four in num- 
ber, are detached pavilions, but this mode of arrangement is rather 
exceptional. The usual custom is one large building with one or 

53 



54 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

more interior connecting courts. The large edifice at Buenos Aires is 
in reality two buildings, since it was erected at different epochs, but 
although it has two entrances, the fagades join and the several inte- 
rior courts are connected. 

In the matter of laboratory equipment conditions are good, and 
this is the more praiseworthy since the installation and maintenance 
of laboratories are matters of unusual difficulty. Apparatus and ma- 
terials must all be imported ; the genius of the people is not mechan- 
ical, and there is no general predilection for laboratory methods. 
But in the medical college, either the nature of the profession 
demonstrates to the student at the very beginning of his career the 
necessity of practical study, or his teachers succeed in convincing him 
of the advantages of laboratory experiment and first-hand knowledge. 
Laboratory study in the school of medicine has such an intimate 
connection with the practice of the profession that it appeals more 
strongly to the student than in the secondary school, or even in the 
engineering college. In many types of education laboratory exer- 
cises are simply cultural ; in medicine, however, they are wholly prac- 
tical. Whether it is for these reasons or others, it is an obvious fact 
that the Latin-American medical student approaches this part of his 
professional course in a different attitude of mind than that com- 
monly exhibited by students in other schools. 

The faculty regulates the practice of medicine. — The faculty of 
medicine acquires additional dignity and prestige from the fact that 
it is an administrative body as well as a teaching staff. In the latter 
capacity it conducts the year-end oral examinations, the final general 
examination, and passes upon the printed thesis presented by the 
graduate. Success in these tests secures for the student the academic 
degree of doctor of medicine. The same faculty as the representa- 
tive of the State conducts the other examination that entitles the 
student to the privilege of practicing his profession. The faculty is 
therefore not subject to the humiliation that may fall upon a North 
American medical college when a State board of examiners, organ- 
ized outside the college, rejects a good student and passes a poorer 
one. The monopoly enjoyed by the college excludes any motive for 
lowering standards. The faculty is also empowered by the State to 
make regulations governing the practice of medicine throughout the 
nation. It possesses therefore a threefold function; it teaches the 
student, examines the applicant, and directs the practitioner. Phy- 
sicians educated abroad, or foreigners desiring to practice in the 
country, must also submit to examination under the same conditions 
as graduates of the school. 

Preparation of professors. — No other profession in Latin America 
is so well educated. The genius of the race inclines toward liberal 
and artistic studies, and the physician has not only acquired a fair 



ULLET1N, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 13 




A. SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, LIMA, PERU. 




B. SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, GUATEMALA CITY. 



5UREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 14 




A. PARTIAL VIEW OF THE NATIONAL COLLEGE AT RIO DE JANEIRO. 




ANATOMICAL INSTITUTION, CARACAS, VENEZUELA. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



SULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 15 




A. MEDICAL SCHOOL, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. 




CHEMICAL INSTITUTE, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY. 



FACULTY OF MEDICINE. 55 

modicum of these in the secondary school, but his natural bent of 
mind and his position in society enables him to continue them in 
after life. His professional studies on the other hand are distinctly 
scientific and practical, while the practice of his profession develops 
psychological acumen and analytical power. This happy blend of 
cultural, scientific, practical, and philosophical study is not afforded 
by any other profession in Spanish America. 

Moreover, no other profession is as eager for postgraduate study. 
A physician does not consider that he is entitled to first rank unless 
he has studied abroad, and a very great number continue at once, or 
early in their professional career, their studies in one or another of 
the noted schools of Europe. By far the largest number go to Paris, 
not only because of the excellence of its faculty, but also because they 
already know the language more or less perfectly. It is from the 
ranks of these ambitious practitioners that the chairs of the medical 
school are filled. It would be difficult to find a professor who has 
not done postgraduate study in Europe, and, as the going and coming 
is continuous, the latest ideas in medical education and practice are 
known in Latin America, and propagated by men who have seen with 
their own eyes. European theories and methods of professional in- 
struction are consequently followed closely, and, as Paris is the school 
most frequented, the medical colleges are practically all organized 
and conducted after the French model. Chile alone has followed 
German methods, a fact due to the presence of several Prussian pro- 
fessors in the faculty. 

Hospital facilities. — Another element that contributes to the excel- 
lence of medical studies in Latin America is the advantage of a uni- 
versity hospital. Many of the best schools of medicine in the United 
States are dependent for clinical faculties upon hospitals that are 
entirely independent of the faculty. This condition causes serious 
embarrassment and often prevents the student from receiving suffi- 
cient practical training. In Latin America the school and the hos- 
pital are both State institutions supported at public expense, and the 
most natural arrangement is to put at least one hospital under the 
direct control of the faculty, with the privilege of using others 
(where there are more than one) as the necessities of the school re- 
quire. This permits professors to give much bedside instruction, and 
also makes possible a large amount of hospital experience for all stu- 
dents. Beginning with his third year the student is assigned certain 
daily duties at the hospital, and during the last two years he serves 
a practical interneship. 

Curriculum. — Nowhere more than in the curriculum of a medical 
college does a mere enumeration of subjects fail to give an adequate, 
or even an approximate idea of the value of the instruction. The 
spirit of the school, the laboratory equipment, the reputation and 



56 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 



skill of the instructors, and the facilities for studying and conquering 
disease are more important elements in establishing the standard of 
the institution than a mere list of studies. However, a few curricula 
selected from different parts of Latin America may perhaps aid in 
giving a just appreciation of medical training. They will, at least, 
emphasize the long term of years required for the profession and 
indicate the nature and order of the studies. 

Representative Medical School Curricula. 





FIRST YEAR. 






Chile. 


Peru. 




Venezuela. 


Anatomy 

Botany 

Physics 

Chemistry (general) 

Zoology 


Anatomy (descriptive) 
Medical physics 
Medical chemistry 
Medical natural history 
Clinic, (surgical) 

SECOND YEAR. 




Anatomy 
Biological physics 
Biological chemistry 
Histology 
Microbiology 


Anatomy 
Histology 
Physiology 
Embryology 


Anatomy (descriptive) 
Analytic chemistry 
Clinic (surgical* 
Anatomy (general and m 

scopical) 
Embryology 

THIRD YEAR. 


icro- 


Anatomy 
Biological physics 
Biological chemistry 
Physiology 
Dissection 


General pathology 
Surgical pathology 
Medical pathology 
Biological chemistry 
Pharmacy 
Bacteriology 


Physiology (general and 

man) 
Pathological anatomy 
Pharmacy 
Clinic (medical) 

FOURTH YEAR. 


hu- 


General pathology 
.'.urgieal pathology 
Practice of medicine 
Clinics (medical and surgi- 
cal) 


Practice of medicine 
Surgical pathology 
Medical pathology 
Therapeutics 


General pathology 

Bacteriology 

Therapeutics and materia 

medic a 
Clinics 


Medical pathology 
Surgical pathology 
Obstetrics 

Clinics (medical, surgical, and 
gynecological) 




FIFTH YEAR. 






Clinics (surgical and medi- 
cal) 
Ophthalmology 
Hygiene 
Pathological anatomy 


General surgery 
Topographical anatomy 
Practice of medicine 
Clinics (medical and surgical) 
Dermatology 


Medical pathology 

Tropical pathology 

General therapeutics and ma- 
teria medica 

Hygiene 

Clinics (medical, surgical, ob- 
stetrical, and ophthalmo- 
logical) 




SIXTH YEAR. 






Clinics (surgical, medical, 

and gynecological) 
Medical jurisprudence 
Obstetrics 


Clinics (surgical, medical, 
ophthalmological, and gy- 
necological) 

Genito-urinary diseases 

Laryngology 


Therapeutical clinic and ma- 
teria medica 

Medical jurisprudence 

Toxicology 

Clinics, (medical, surgical, 
dermatological and syphi- 
litic) 




SEVENTH YEAR. 






Genito-urinary diseases 
Dermatology 
Gynecology 
Laryngology 
Mental diseases 


Clinic of mental and nervous 

diseases 
Obstetrical clinic 
Pediatrics 
Hygiene 

Medical jurisprudence 
Toxicology 





Duration of studies. — The length of the course is always six or 
seven years, the longer term being required in Chile, Argentina, 



FACULTY OF MEDICINE. 57 

Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Salvador. In Chile the last year is de- 
voted to specialization; in the other countries it forms part of the 
general course. In Peru the student is required to spend two years 
in the faculty of sciences after graduating from the high school be- 
fore he enrolls in the school of medicine. During this period he 
studies general physics and chemistry, botany, zoology, and analytical 
chemistry. These studies are, however, much more theoretical than 
practical. 

In regard to the hours per week and the relative amount of theo- 
retical and practical studies^ the schools show considerable variation. 
At Buenos Aires the total hours per week range in different years 
from 30 to 36. During the first two years there are 9 hours of lec- 
tures; the rest of the time is spent in the laboratories. During the 
third and fourth years there are 12 hours of lectures and clinics; 
during the fifth and sixth years, 18 hours ; and during the last year 
practically all the time is given to clinics. At Bahia the average 
hours per week during the first four years are 25 and during the last 
two, 32. Throughout both periods theoretical instruction occupies 
about one-half the time. At Santiago de Chile it is more difficult to 
estimate the relative time given to the two forms of instruction, be- 
cause the practical is combined with the theoretical in the class 
periods, which are more numerous than in the schools just men- 
tioned, while there is much laboratory work in addition. 

The subsidiary schools. — A faculty of medicine invariably includes 
the three related schools of pharmacy, dentistry, and midwifery. 
The faculty in Chile conducts also a nurses' training school. The pro- 
fession of midwife is universal in Latin America, although less com- 
mon in Brazil than in Spanish America. The school of midwifery 
at Santiago de Chile enrolls about 75 students and that of Buenos 
Aires between 80 and 90. At Montevideo, where there were but 229 
students in the medical course in 1911, the enrollment in the school of 
midwifery was 38. At Rio de Janeiro, however, in the same year 
there were enrolled but 10, and at Bahia, 13. The course of study 
extends over two years, in a few schools over three, and requirements 
for entrance do not equal those demanded for other courses in the 
medical faculty. 

Schools of dentistry have been established only in the past two 
decades. In many faculties they are just now being introduced. 
The course of study is almost uniformly of three years; in Brazil, 
however, it covers only two years. The growth of the schools has 
been phenomenal, and dentistry is everywhere a lucrative profession. 
Although a full secondary-school education is demanded for entrance, 
dentistry is far from enjoying the academic and social prestige of 
the medical career. It is regarded more as a business than as a pro- 



58 LATIN-AMERICAN - UNIVERSITIES. 

fession, and suffers the disparagement common to all nonprofessional 
vocations in Latin America. 

This is not true of pharmacy, at least not to the same extent. That 
is an older profession and is so closely allied to medicine that it shares 
some of its luster. Schools of pharmacy have a relatively large 
attendance. At Lima there are half as many students of pharmacy 
as of medicine; at La Paz, one-third; at Santiago, two-fifths; at 
Montevideo, one-third. At Buenos Aires, however, the ratio is much 
smaller, being but 1 to 9. The average ratio is 1 to 3 or 4. The 
entrance requirements are the same as for medicine, and the course 
of study is regularly three years. In only one or two instances does 
it include four. 

Medical texts and libraries. — Professors in the medical faculties are 
almost all natives of the country in which they serve. To this extent 
medical education in Latin America is national. In only a very few 
schools, notably at Santiago, are there foreign professors, "contracted 
for " by the Government. However, as stated above, the vast major- 
ity of the professors have studied in Europe, and texts and reference 
books are very commonly in French. Few translations of French 
are used, since all students having come through the secondary school 
can read the originals with reasonable ease. Medical libraries are 
usually well stocked. However, in this day of rapid advance in 
medical science the number of books is a poor measure of a library's 
usefulness. The school at Rio de Janeiro possesses a library of 
40,000 volumes; that of Buenos Aires, 32,000, including duplicates; 
that of Santiago, 7,000 in its working library ; and other schools have 
collections in proportion to their size and importance. As every 
faculty publishes a medical review, it is able to acquire through ex- 
change a large number of medical journals. Likewise, the practice 
of requiring a printed thesis from each graduate enables the college 
to exchange with others in all parts of the world that have the same 
policy. A very large proportion, probably more than 50 per cent, 
of the works are in French. The librarian of Buenos Aires, in a re- 
port published in 1911, states that of the 27,412 works consulted dur- 
ing the previous year 14 were Portuguese, 53 English, 211 German, 
1,449 Italian, 4,821 Spanish, 7,148 Argentine, and 13,716 French. 
A similar report for the medical library of Montevideo gives the 
following results: German, 154; Portuguese, 231; English, 239; 
Italian, 1,243; Spanish (i. e., works in Spanish whether from Spain 
or Spanish America), 2,793; French, 5,816. These figures demon- 
strate the all-powerful influence of France in medical education in 
Latin America. The ratio of French treatises to those of other na- 
tionalities would be much the same in other countries. 

Vacation schools. — The medical schools in Latin America are pro- 
gressive and jealous of the good reputation of their graduates. In 



FACULTY OF MEDICINE. 59 

countries of great distances and difficulties of communication, where 
centers of culture are few and far removed from the university, a 
county physician has. little opportunity and less motive for con- 
tinuing his studies and keeping abreast of his profession. In order 
to overcome this tendency to stagnation several countries, led by 
Chile, which has always shown itself enterprising in all types of edu- 
cation, have founded vacation schools for the country doctor. They 
are modeled after similar institutions in Germany and have met 
with considerable success, especially in Chile. 

Two needed reforms. — Notwithstanding the progress it has made, 
frequently under adverse conditions, the Latin- American medical col- 
lege is in urgent need of two reforms. The first is a better training in 
science and laboratory method on the part of the student before he 
matriculates. This desideratum is in a fair way of attainment by the 
proposed pre-university course already adopted in Argentina and 
Uruguay and projected in other countries. The other reform is a 
differentiation between the medical teacher and the medical practi- 
tioner. The best part of medical education in Latin America is the 
clinical instruction, where teaching and professional practice are 
necessarily combined; the weakest part is in such subjects as chem- 
istry, bacteriology, zoology, etc., and in laboratory instruction. 
These chairs, like the clinical chairs, are filled by practicing phy- 
sicians. Such courses could be better given by professional chemists, 
bacteriologists, etc., who could not only be greater specialists, each 
in his particular subject than is possible for a physician with a con- 
siderable practice, but who could give more time and supervision to 
the laboratory work of the students. Under the present system this 
part of instruction is relegated entirely to laboratory assistants, who 
are also physicians, but of less reputation than the head of the de- 
partment, and the student is tempted to conclude that laboratory 
work is less valuable, since it is not important enough to claim the 
personal attention of the professor. The high standard of excellence 
attained by the medical faculty of Chile is no doubt due in large 
measure to the presence of several teaching professors (Germans) 
contracted for by the Chilean Government, who have taught the 
purely scientific subjects and exalted the role of the scientific labora- 
tory. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE ENGINEERING FACULTY. 

The Latin-American universities during the past quarter of a cen- 
tury have persistently struggled to confine theoretical education 
within its proper scope and to develop the practical side. The 
abstract element had held undisputed sway so long in the dominant 
faculty of law and social sciences that the battle was waged against 
great odds. In the teaching of law, long-established tradition and the 
nature of the subject, which lends itself easily to the lecture method, 
tended to retain the ancient habits of instruction. In the faculty of 
medicine much progress has been made. As shown in the preceding 
chapter, laboratory methods have been adopted everywhere and are 
in successful operation. To this faculty more than to any other is 
due the credit of breaking down the ramparts of tradition and bring- 
ing into the university modern ideas and modern methods. 

Difficulties. — The faculty of engineering, which, both on account 
of its history and the content of its curriculum should be the most 
modern of all and the most practical in its methods, has had a severe 
struggle to free itself from the grasp of tradition and traditional 
methods. In Latin America certain forces which do not exist in 
the United States have operated to cause this condition. In the first 
place the ancient name of the faculty — a name that still remains as 
the official title — Facultad de ciencias exactas, was strongly indicative 
of the time when physics was simply theoretical and mathematical, 
and mathematics was pursued not for its practical application but as 
a form of logic and metaphysics. Derived from such an ancestry, it 
is not surprising that the engineering faculty should experience 
unwonted difficulty in freeing itself from abstract ideas and purely 
theoretical instruction. Another disadvantage which beset the engi- 
neering school was the old prejudice on the part of university stu- 
dents as a class against the rough work required in an engineering 
laboratory of the modern type. 

Under these adverse conditions the Latin-American engineering 
school has developed with the greatest difficulty. The tendency to 
theoretical instruction born in the old faculty of exact sciences clung 
to the new school with deadly tenacity and was accentuated by the 
popular aversion to laboratory methods. Only as the spirit of com- 
mercialism and industrialism grew in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, 
60 



THE ENGINEERING FACULTY. 61 

Chile, and Mexico, and in a lesser degree in the other States, did the 
engineering school begin to assume its proper position. With the 
recasting of society that is in progress to-day and with the patriotic 
fervor for national wealth and aggrandizement that actuates many 
States, this branch of professional education is at last growing in 
importance and efficiency. 

Material equipment. — By favorable legislation and liberal appro- 
priations many States have done everything possible to advance 
technical education. In Brazil no less than four new schools of 
engineering have been founded in the last two decades. The institu- 
tions at Eio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have good buildings and fair 
equipment. The old School of Mines has been removed from its 
inaccessible location at Ouro Preto, and put at the provincial capital, 
Bello Horizonte, where it is easy of access and furnished with new 
buildings and additional apparatus. Within the past year Uruguay 
has given its engineering faculty additional facilities. In Argentina 
each of the three faculties is especially favored. At Cordoba the 
school has its own building and an almost independent organization. 
A number of German professors, specialists in engineering science, 
have been in the faculty many years. At Buenos Aires the facilities 
have been constantly increased, and the Government now projects 
an entirely new plant in another part of the city, where greater space 
will be available. La Plata has the advantage of its new installa- 
tion and reformed curriculum. The annual budget of the school of 
Buenos Aires is much greater than the combined budgets of the 
faculties of letters and law. At Cordoba, for instruction alone, it 
is more than $40,000. Chile has reserved the original university 
building in its entirety for the use of the engineering faculty and 
maintains a number of German professors to conduct the more tech- 
nical branches of the work. In addition, the school of architecture 
has been detached and furnished with other quarters and special 
facilities. Almost one-third of the total budget of the university is 
devoted to this department. The Catholic University of Santiago 
also conducts a school of architecture and engineering. In Peru the 
school is independent of the university, has its own organization, 
separate building, large equipment, and valuable library. A new 
electrical laboratory was installed in 1911 at an expense of $30,000. 
The annual budget amounts to $50,000. Bolivia maintains no en- 
gineering school of university grade, but she expends $30,000 an- 
nually on her Practical School of Mines at Oruro, and employs at a 
large salary a foreign engineer of note as its president. In 1910 the 
University of Bogota provided its faculty of engineering with a new 
building. At Caracas the school has its own building of modern 
construction and, like the faculty of Cordoba, is, in organization, 



62 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

almost a separate institution. The smaller countries of Central 
America have found it impracticable to maintain engineering schools 
on account of the expense of laboratory equipment and the difficulty 
of securing competent instructors, and in its stead they send students 
abroad on scholarships. Mexico, during its four decades of indus- 
trial progress, gave much attention to industrial education, and 
besides the engineering school at the capital, with a budget of $57,000 
in 1910-11, there were other schools in the provinces. 

Organization. — In 1911 Brazil formulated a new organization for 
the Polytechnic School of Eio de Janeiro, which has already been 
adopted by the school of Sao Paulo and will doubtless be followed 
by all the other institutions in the Republic. It prescribes three 
courses of five years each — civil, industrial, and mechanical and 
electrical engineering. The studies of the first three years are identi- 
cal — mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, geology, mineralogy, 
and botany form the bases of the work. The purely technical studies 
are reserved for the two upper years. There are no linguistic or 
literary studies. The last statement is equally applicable to all 
Latin- American engineering courses. 

In all Spanish America, except Argentina, there is a marked uni- 
formity in the organization of the engineering faculty and in the 
length, content, and arrangement of the various departments. The 
fact that in some instances the engineering school is an administrative 
unit within the faculty of exact sciences is of little import in under- 
standing the work and is more form than reality. The engineering 
school directs the studies and confers the professional title of " en- 
gineer " ; the faculty, composed of practically the same professors, 
confers the academic degrees in case the student aspires to these 
honors and passes the special examinations that entitle him to them. 
The engineering school comprises usually a department of surveying 
embracing three years, another of civil engineering embracing five 
years, and a third of mining engineering of equal length; in some, 
mining engineering is replaced by mechanical or industrial engineer- 
ing. In the University of Buenos Aires, which offers civil and me- 
chanical engineering, the time is extended to six years for the 
former. Some institutions have short practical courses of one, two, 
and three years in electricity, construction, etc. These sections must 
not be confounded with the industrial schools. They are of uni- 
versity rank, but do not lead to a degree or even to a professional 
title. Every school has also a section of architecture, which is one 
of its most important divisions and always has a large enrollment. 
The subject appeals strongly to the artistic genius of the race. So 
important is it that it practically forms a separate school, and in 
Chile has been given its own building and administration. The 



5UREAU OF EDUCATION 



SULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 16 







A. POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL, RIO DE JANEIRO. 




POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 17 




A. FACADE OF THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF CARACAS, 
VENEZUELA. 



:®a 



"■:;:*r 



i 



• filttffi 



OLD UNIVERSITY BUILDING, NOW USED FOR THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEER- 
ING, MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



JULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 1i 




A. PREPARATORY SCHOOL, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF SANTIAGO, CHILE. 




B. MACKENZIE COLLEGE, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL. 



THE ENGINEERING FACULTY. 



63 



course of study usually comprises four years, but in some institutions 
it is extended to five ; in others reduced to three. It cliff ers from the 
North American course in containing less mathematics, physics, and 
engineering mechanics and in devoting more time to the artistic side 
of the profession. The increasing popularity of the department is 
fully justified by the rapid upbuilding of such countries as Argentina 
and Brazil, where the profession of the architect is highly profitable. 
In some other countries, where there is no remarkable immigration, 
wealth is increasing and there is a tendency to replace the old with the 
new, in material things as well as in modes of thought, and social 
organization. 

Curricula. — The many different ramifications of engineering, each 
with its different course of study, preclude the reproduction in a 
work of this scope of representative curricula of all departments, 
but as indicative of the work there is given below the course in civil 
engineering in three widely separated schools. 

Three Civil Engineering Curricula. 



Rio cle Janeiro. 



Analytical geometry 
Descriptive geometry 
Infinitesimal calculus 
Laboratory physics 
Drawing and graphics 



FIRST YEAR. 

Cordoba. 

Higher arithmetic and algebn 
Plane and solid geometry 
Trigonometry 
Physics (1st course) 
Inorganic chemistry 
Botany (Argentine flora) 
Drawing 



Habana. 

Algebra 

Analytical geometry 
Trigonometry 
Mechanics 
rtrysics (1st course) 
Geometrical and free-hand 
drawing 



SECOND YEAR. 



Theoretical mechanics 

Inorganic chemistry 

Elements of organic chemistry 

Botany 

Topography 

Surveying 

Topographical drawing 



Algebra and analytical geom- 
etry 
Physics (2d course) 
Organic chemistry 
Topography 
Architecture 
Topographical drawing 



Calculus 

Descriptive geometry 
Inorganic chemistry 
Physics (2d course) 
Mineralogy and petrography 
Geometrical and free-hand 
drawing 



Special trigonometry 
Astronomy 
Geodesy 

Applied mechanics and dy- 
namics, kinematics 
Theory of resistance of ma- 



Graphical statics 

Geology, mineralogy, paleon- 
tology and elements of 
metallurgy 

Projections and stereotomy 



THIRD YEAR. 

Infinitesimal calculus 
Architecture (2d course) 
Descriptive geometry 

course) 
Industrial physics 
Structural designs 
Geology and mineralogy 
Qualitative analysis 
Ornamental drawing 



Theoretical mechanics 

Geology 

Surveying 

Stereotomy, shadows, and 
perspective 

Materials of construction 

Drawing (topographical, struc- 
tural, and architectural) 



Materials of construction 

Resistance of materials 

Solidity of constructions 

Hydromechanics 

Roads, bridges, and viaducts 

Railway construction 

Machine drawing 



'— 13- 



FOURTH YEAR. 

Theoretical mechanics 
Engineering construction 
Industrial chemistry and 

metallurgy 
Hydromechanics 
Geodesy 

Engineering and surveying law 
Hygiene and sanitation 
Architectural drawing 



Geodesy and topography 
Roads, streets, etc. 
Resistance of materials 
Graphical statics 
Machines 

Drawing (topographical, struc- 
tural, and architectural) 



64 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 



Architecture 

Public sanitation 

Machines 

Rivers, canals, h arbors, 

lighthouses 
Political economy 
Administrative law 
Statistics 
Architectural drawing 



FIFTH YEAE. 

Theory of machines 
Agricultural engineering 
Resistance of materials 
Railway construction 
Industrial electricity 
Graphical statics 
Projections and stereotomy 



SIXTH YEAR. 

Machines 

Applied mechanics 
Railway administration 
Bridges and roads 
Plans and estimates 
Resistance of materials 
Harbors and canals 
Machine design 



Railways 
Bridges 

Hydromechanics 
Contracts, estimates, and en- 
gineering law 
Astronomy 



Class and laboratory. — The relative amount of theoretical and of 
practical instruction for two of the leading schools gn^es additional 
insight into the character of the training given the civil engineer. 
The figures represent hours per week, and by " practical work " is 
meant laboratory practice, drawing, designing, etc. 

Hours of instruction per ireck. 





Course. 


Year. 


Name of school. 


1st. 


2d. 


3d. 


4th. 


5th. 


6th. 




1 Theoretical- 


12 


15 
14 
17 
15 


15 

16 
16 


18 
11 
15 
16 


14 
12 
18 
16 


15 




\Practical 


15 


\ Practical 









In the Chilean schedule the hours of class and laboratory are prac- 
tically equal. A considerable disparity is shown in the first and 
fourth years of the Argentine program. In the school of mines 
of the Catholic University of Santiago the class and laboratory hours 
are exactly equal — 18 for each year. It will be observed that the 
student's schedule is heavy, as measured by the North American 
standard, ranging from 19 to 24 " credit " hours per week and from 27 
to 36 in total time of class and laboratory. In this respect the com- 
parison should rather be with European practices, where more in- 
struction is given in class and less individual preparation is required 
outside. It should be remembered also that what are indicated as 
class periods are usually lectures only. 

One will look in vain for shops in a Latin- American engineering 
school. The institution is not unknown or unappreciated, but it is 
not for engineers. In the industrial schools of Argentina and Chile 
Bhopwork in wood and iron forms the essential feature of the cur- 
riculum, and the schools possess good facilities for the work. But 
shop work in the engineering faculty is considered out of place. 



THE ENGINEERING FACULTY. 65 

Enrollment. — The distribution of students among the different 
lines of engineering is worthy of note as indicating both the inclina- 
tion of the students and the demand for the different callings. Ref- 
erence has already been made to the popularity of architecture. In 
the engineering school of Chile one student in five is enrolled in this 
department. At Buenos Aires the number is one in seven, but in the 
smaller schools the ratio will probably average as large, if not larger, 
than at Santiago. The distribution of all students in the faculty 
of exact sciences at Buenos Aires was, in 1911, as follows: Civil 
engineering (6 years), 599; mechanical engineering (5 years), 25; 
surveying (3 years), 39; architecture (5 years), 122; doctorate in 
chemistry (5 years), 45; in natural sciences (5 years), 6; in physico- 
mathematical sciences (5 years), 3. The last course has just been 
inaugurated, and the enrollment represents only two years. Students 
enrolled for the various doctorates are probably preparing to teach. 
The prospect of Government employment is a strong incentive for 
pursuing certain courses in preference to others. This explains in 
part the preeminence of civil engineering. For work on harbors, 
streets, sewers, waterworks, and irrigation projects the national, pro- 
vincial, and local governments are now in great need of competent 
engineers. Active railroad building in Argentina, both by the Gov- 
ernment and private companies, is another incentive. The matricu- 
lants of surveying all expect official appointment. Few students in- 
tend to enter the field of industry. This is explained in part by the 
fact that most large industries are in the hands of foreign corpora- 
tions, who usually import their engineers as well as their managing 
personnel. In Chile, where all railroads are State-owned, the output 
of civil engineers is largely absorbed by the Government for railroad 
construction. The same has been true to less extent in Brazil. The 
fact that outside of Government enterprises the large industries are 
everywhere in the control of foreign corporations, using their fellow 
countrymen in engineering capacities, is a serious disadvantage to the 
native engineer. It dwarfs his initiative and forces him into a Gov- 
ernment bureaucracy. This reacts ultimately upon the engineering-* 
school^ making of it a governmental agency for the preparation of 
certain officials, instead of ' enlisting it actively for the industrial 
development of the nation. 



CHAPTER IX. 
NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

The principle of free public instruction is firmly intrenched in all 
Latin America, and the Government cheerfully supports all grades of 
schools from the kindergarten to the university. The State does not, 
however, monopolize instruction. Church and private institutions 
are tolerated and often encouraged, not only morally, but also finan- 
cially. In primary education the State schools are the more numerous 
by far. Except in a very few countries, this grade of education is 
but little fostered by religious societies. In Brazil there are many 
private primary schools conducted by individuals. Secondary edu- 
cation, however, receives great attention from the Roman Catholic 
Church and the teaching orders. Long-established tradition had 
maintained that this grade of education could best be given in board- 
ing schools, and the church was especially well organized to conduct 
this type of school. Protestant societies also have bent their energies 
principally to secondary education. Higher education has been left 
almost exclusively to the State. In all Latin America there are 
perhaps not more than three non-State institutions which maintain 
professional schools (other than ecclesiastical) or a college of liberal 
arts in the sense that the word college is used in the United States. 
The reasons for the abstention of the Roman Catholic Church from 
this grade of instruction are two : First, the rise of the secular facul- 
ties of civil law, medicine, and, later, engineering, which became gov- 
ernmental administrative corporations as well as teaching bodies ; 
second, the decadence of the faculty of letters and philosophy and 
the substitution for it of the enlarged curriculum of the liceo. Ex- 
cluded from the secular faculties and the State universities, the 
churcli directed its energies to the new form of high school and to 
the episcopal seminaries that rose in the place of the old faculty of 
theology. 

The three non-State institutions are worthy of special notice not 
only because they form a class apart, but because each has a peculiar 
history and differs radically from the other two. 

Colegio de Nuestra Senora del Rosario. — This institution, founded 
at Bogota in 1664, has preserved, at least in its outward forms, the 
marks of the era of its foundation, and corresponds more closely to 



NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS. 67 

the colonial university than any other institution in Latin America. 
It was never a university in name, but had the power of conferring 
degrees in civil and canon law, medicine, theology, and philosophy 
and letters. At present it retains only the faculty of philosophy and 
letters, but to this extent it is of university rank, and is so recog- 
nized by the State. The University of Bogota possesses faculties of 
medicine, law, and engineering, but in letters and philosophy the 
Colegio del Eosario has no rival. Theology has been transferred to 
the archbishop's seminary. The Colegio maintains two courses, the 
lower affording preparation for entrance to the professional facul- 
ties, the higher leading to the degree of doctor of letters and phi- 
losophy. It is an institution that corresponds in the form of its 
organization to the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. It has its 
fellows, scholars, and commoners, all of whom live in the college. 
There are also day scholars. 

The college is autonomous, chooses its own officers, faculty, and fel- 
lows, and regulates its budget, requirements, and curriculum in ac- 
cordance with its original constitution and by-laws. The latter were 
revised in 1893, but more in form than in substance. The only check 
on the autonomy of the institution is the veto power held by the 
President of the Republic on the choice of rector. The faculty 
is selected by the ancient method of oposicion, and always from 
alumni of the college, if possible. At the time of its foundation the 
Colegio del Eosario was handsomely endowed, and during the 
colonial period it was far-famed for both the excellence of its instruc- 
tion and its distinguished alumni. Later came dark days. The 
charter was violated, the endowment dissipated. Finally, the Govern- 
ment recognized its responsibility in the material disaster that had 
overtaken the institution through civil strife, and restored in part 
the revenue by the issue of treasury certificates on which it pays to 
the college a fixed interest. 

The Catholic University of Chile. — If the Colegio del Eosario is a 
religious college of the olden type of organization, the Catholic Uni- 
versity of Chile is a church school of a distinctly modern pattern. 
It has no history connecting it with colonial times. Founded as late 
as 1888, in one of the most progressive commonwealths of Spanish 
America, organized after the same model as the State university, and 
preparing its graduates for secular vocations, it is the one example 
in South America of modern and local non-State initiative in higher 
and professional education. The government of the institution is 
vested directly in the church, which names the rector and confirms the 
appointment of professors, deans, and other officers. The financial 
administration also is directed by the ecclesiastical authorities. The 
institution therefore enjoys little autonomy, but its financial pros- 



68 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

perity is assured, since the church is pledged irrevocably to its sup- 
port. It has received also considerable endowment. A splendid 
building, situated in the principal avenue of Santiago, is in process 
of erection. In the wing already completed is located the preparatory 
school. The work of the university proper is still carried on in a 
building situated in the heart of the city. 

Four departments are in operation — law, engineering, architecture, 
and agriculture. The last-named faculty is in reality two distinct 
schools, the theoretical and the practical. The theoretical studies 
cover three years and are followed by a year of practical application, 
which is done on a farm near the city. The engineering school offers 
two causes — one in civil, the other in industrial and mining engineer- 
ing. The first is five years in length, the latter four years, and both 
correspond very closely to the corresponding courses in the State 
university. The course in architecture also covers four years. 

The Catholic University of Santiago is thoroughly modern in its 
equipment and general methods. Its material resources have steadily 
increased, and the new buildings will give it unrivaled facilities. 
While from a material point of view it is a disadvantage to duplicate 
the work of the State university, from the point of view of efficienc}' 
the presence of two rival institutions in the same city is a decided 
stimulus to both. 

Mackenzie College. — The third non-State institution of higher edu- 
cation is located at Sao Paulo. In its origin and organization it is 
exotic, and yet through a generation of usefulness it has become a 
part and parcel of the new Brazil. For more than 40 years there has 
existed in Sao Paulo a group of primary and secondary schools 
founded and administered by North Americans. In 1886 an ad- 
vanced course of collegiate rank was formed, and four years later it 
was incorporated with the University of the State of New York. 
The purpose of the founders was to maintain an institution of higher 
learning patterned after the North American model for the benefit 
of Brazilians preparing to do postgraduate study abroad or engaging 
in industrial and commercial pursuits at home. The faculty is com- 
posed largely of Americans, Canadians, and Englishmen. Besides 
the preparatory course, with its parallel divisions of classical, scien- 
tific, and commercial studies, there is the college of liberal arts 
containing also three sections — classics, general sciences, and civil 
engineering. A section of agriculture is to be organized next year. 
There are both day students and boarders. The dormitory privi- 
leges are reserved for students whose parents do not live in the city. 
Women are admitted to the college, but as day scholars only. 

The history of the college has been one of continuous expansion 
and of adaptation to the growing needs of the country. It possesses 



NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS. 69 

a large campus in one of the best parts of the city, several good build- 
ings, and a farm in the suburbs, which is to be the seat of the new 
department of agriculture. The primary schools, which were the 
starting point of the college, are located in other parts of the city. 
They are not a part of the college, but are feeders to the preparatory 
department. To Mackenzie College is due in no small measure the 
general interest manifested by the State of Sao Paulo in public edu- 
cation and her preeminence in this particular among the States of 
the Brazilian federation. 



PART II. SPECIAL EDUCATION. 



CHAPTER X. 
NORMAL EDUCATION. 

A normal school in Latin America is an institution of secondary- 
school rank. The entrance requirements are never more and very 
frequently less than those of the regular high school (liceo). In 
length of term it corresponds also very closely to the secondary 
school, and it will be observed from the sample curricula given later 
that the studies, except the strictly professional subjects, are much 
the same as those of the high school. The institution is in fact merely 
a normal high school, repeating the academic subjects of the second- 
ary school, with the addition of courses in methodology and of oppor- 
tunities for practice teaching in the annexed model school. The 
purpose of the normal school is, therefore, to train teachers for the 
primary school only. Some graduates secure posts in the lower 
grades of commercial and secondary schools and through energy and 
persistence rise to higher positions in the educational system, but, 
generally speaking, a normal graduate, whether boy or girl, is lim- 
ited to the common schools. This fact binds the normal school to 
elementary education and puts a broad chasm between it and regular 
secondary education and the university. 

Admission. — Although the requirements for admission to the normal 
school are never more than the completion of the State elemental 
school, or an equivalent examination, the age of the pupils is 14 and 
upward. Many schools, especially the boarding schools, prescribe a 
minimum age of 14. The course of study begins very frequently with 
a " preparatory year," during which period few new studies are in- 
troduced; the pupil reviews all the important branches of the ele- 
mentary school, and is tried out, as it were. If the outcome is not 
satisfactory to the administration, if the pupil does not show suffi- 
cient aptitude for the more advanced instruction, he is dissuaded 
from proceeding. The preparatory year is justified on the ground 
that instruction in the lower schools is necessarily very unequal, since 
some schools are located in towns of considerable importance and 
others in remote villages. The environment of the children, there- 
70 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 71 

fore, differs widely both in home and in school, and it is but natural 
that the educational product should show corresponding inequalities 
and variations. The first year is expected to mold the newcomers 
into a responsive and harmonious class. There is, however, another 
explanation of the ano preparatorio. It is not only in the United 
States that teachers in higher schools have a certain disdain, conscious 
or unconscious, for work clone below their own grade. High-school 
teachers criticize the teaching in the grades, and college faculties will 
rarely admit that students come to them well prepared. This same 
educational distrust is prevalent in Spanish America, and not only 
normal schools but many other special schools begin with a prepara- 
tory course. 

Course of study. — The curriculum covers a period of years that 
varies considerably in different countries. The extremes are three 
and seven years. The usual length of time is four and five years. 
In Argentina it is four years; in Chile, five; in Brazil, three and 
four; in Salvador, three; in Uruguay, four; in Costa Eica, seven. 
As the primary normal is but a specialization of secondary educa- 
tion the length of the course does not depend so much on the amount 
of professional training as upon the amount of academic instruc- 
tion that is included in the curriculum. 

It is often difficult to estimate the normal course by years. In 
some schools the professional studies are introduced in the very 
first year; in others two or three years are occupied with purely 
secondary studies, and the specific normal subjects and practice 
teaching are confined to the last year. Especially may this be so in 
countries where the normal school is a section of the regular secondary 
school. In Costa Rica, for example, the course is uniform in the 
Girls' High School (Colegio de Sehoritas) during the first four 
years; then follows the distinctive normal course of three years, 
and yet the entire period of seven years is commonly known as the 
normal school. In passing, it may be stated that the combination of 
normal and high school in a single organization is exceptional, 
although it might be found highly advantageous in view of the fact 
that in both the grade of study and age of the pupils are the same. 
Only the smaller States, for reasons of economy, have adopted this 
form of organization. The tendency is rather to multiply institu- 
tions and confine each to one single line of preparation. 

Another reason for variation in the length of the normal course 
is the amount of schooling the pupil has had before entering. In 
the majority of States the elementary school embraces six years, 
and this is the basis of admission to the normal school. But in 
some the American practice obtains of lengthening the period of 
elementary education and shortening proportionately the high- 
school course. In Brazil the full elementary course embraces eight 



72 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 



years; in Uruguay, seven. In such countries it is therefore quite 
natural that normal education should be shorter than where the pre- 
liminary education is limited to six years. 

Within each country the normal schools are practically uniform as 
far as the length and subject matter of the course is concerned. 
Even in a federal republic, as Argentina, the central Government 
maintains schools in the provinces, and although there are also State 
normal schools it is the national system that sets the standard. The 
curricula given below of the national normal schools of Argentina, 
Chile, and Colombia represent well the four and five year types. 
Only a very few countries have three-year schools. 

National normal schools of Chile. 



Subjects of instruction. 



Hours per week. 



First 
year. 



Second 
year. 



Third 
year. 



Fourth 
year. 



Fifth 
year. 



Pedagogy (theoretical and practical) 

Religious and moral instruction ... 

Spanish 

Foreign language (generally French) 

Arithmetic and algebra _. 

Bookkeeping - _. 

Geometry and elementary trigonometry.. - 

Natural history and hygiene 

Elementary agriculture 

Physics and chemistry 

History (general, American, and Chilean). 
Civics (and for girls, domestic economy).. 

Geography and cosmography 

Penmanship. 

Drawing 

Music (singing, violin, and harmony) 

Physical culture 

Manual training or household arts 



Total. 



National normal schools of Argentina. 





Hours per week. 


Subjects of instruction. 


First 
year. 


Second 
year. 


Third 
year. 


Fourth 
year. 




2 

3 


2 

4 


2 
6 
2 
3 
2 
2 

3 
2 


, 












3 
3 
Z 
4 
3 
3 


2 
2 

3 

2 
5 




History (general, American, and Argentine) 


2 


























Drawing, music, elementary agriculture, physical culture, man- 


10 


10 


6 








Total 


33 | 36 


31 









NORMAL EDUCATION. 
National normal schools of Colombia. 



73 





Hours per week. 


Subjects of instruction. 


First 
year. 


Second 
year. 


Third 
year. 


Fourth 
year. 


Fifth 

year. 




3 
3 
3 


3 
3 
3 


3 
3 
3 

6 
6 
6 


3 
3 


3 
























6 
6 

3 


6 
6 

e 






3 






















6 

3 
3 
3 
3 
15 












3 




















3 










3 










6 


Music, drawing, penmanship, and calisthenics 


15 


15 


15 


15 


Total . 


45 


45 


45 


45 


15 







Observations on curricula. — The great number of hours of class 
work, especially in the Colombian and Chilean systems, indicates 
that little preparation is expected for the lessons, and that the recita- 
tion period is practically all the time given to the subject. This is 
more in accordance with European methods in secondary instruction 
than North American practices. The large number of subjects car- 
ried simultaneously by the student is another European character- 
istic of the Chilean schedule, in which there are no less than 16 or 
18 different studies per week. A similar system obtains in the high 
schools of many countries. The effect, according to the North Ameri- 
can view, is to dissipate the pupil's energies, to deprive him of the 
power, or inclination, to think deeply into any subject, and to make 
him content with absorbing knowledge in the classroom instead of 
encouraging original thinking. 

In the curriculum of all the best normal schools, a distinct place is 
now assigned to handwork — manual training for the boys and house- 
hold arts for the girls. These subjects are carried down into the 
primary schools, and their presence in elementary instruction in 
almost every country is one of the most hopeful signs in Latin 
America. It will be observed that in two of the curricula presented 
elementary agriculture is also included. This subject is also found 
very generally in the Latin- American normal school, and is another 
indication of the modern spirit. A study which at first glance seems 
to have no utilitarian value for the normal student, since he is prepar- 
ing specifically for teaching in the primary schools, is that of a for- 
eign language. But it is contended that Spanish is relatively poor in 
pedagogical literature and that the student should be given the 
power to read methodology in at least one other tongue. The con- 



74 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

tention is perhaps more valid for Portuguese than for Spanish, but 
even here its strength is weakened by the fact that a Brazilian can 
read Spanish understandingly without study, so great is the simi- 
larity between the two languages. The study of modern foreign lan- 
guage in the primary normal school can scarcely be justified on the 
ground of utility. It, of course, has its cultural and linguistic value, 
and this is greater in Spanish America since neither normal nor 
secondary schools include Latin in their curricula. 

It will be observed that elementary instruction is given in all the 
common sciences. Botany, zoology, etc., are grouped in one course, 
and physics and chemistry joined in another. Methods of instruc- 
tion are much the same in both. Except in Argentina, individual 
laboratory exercises are little used. The teacher develops the subject 
with or without the aid of a text, and in the biological sciences uses 
for illustration pictorial charts and objects from the school museum. 
In physics and chemistry, the instructor performs experiments at the 
desk in the presence of the class, and the following day requires that 
they be described by a pupil or reproduced. A pupil, therefore^ has 
little opportunity to handle apparatus and materials. He is expected 
merely to reproduce. No new experiment is given him to perform 
by the combination of others previously learned. In failing to pro- 
vide individual and quasi-original laboratory exercises, the school 
misses a fine opportunity to develop the expression of spontaneity 
and initiative, while the reproductive form of experiment tends to 
develop the memory habit of recitation. 

Method and examinations. — In many normal schools few or no text- 
books are used. The teacher develops or dictates the lesson, and the 
pupils take notes or copy the dictation. This method is especially 
common in Chile and in countries that have received their organization 
directly or indirectly from Chile. In Argentina and other countries 
where North Americans were called to organize the first normal 
schools, textbooks are regularly employed, and in addition much use 
is made of the reference library. The two methods can be traced 
pretty accurately by the greater or less number of class hours per 
week. The textbook presupposes more individual preparation, and 
the class hour becomes more of a recitation and less of an exposition. 
The virtual abolition of regular class texts came about in some 
countries through' a laudable desire to overcome the mnemonic 
habit that marked the old schools. But the root of that evil was 
not in the text, but in the method of the teacher, and the substitu- 
tion of notes for text was only a palliative and not a cure. The 
evil still exists in many schools and is fostered by the importance 
placed upon the final year-end oral examinations common to all 
forms of education in Latin America. In this matter the normal 
schools are, as a rule, far in advance of others since they have par- 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 75 

tial tests, oral and written, at intervals throughout the year, and 
the final examination is often both oral and written. The latter, 
which admits of more specific questions and in which time can be 
allowed for resolving problems and deducing original conclusions, 
takes the burden of the examination off the memory and throws 
it upon the reasoning powers, where it properly belongs. Notwith- 
standing these reforms the year-end oral examination is an overshad- 
owing feature in Latin- American education. The student is accus- 
tomed to it even in the grades, and even when modified as it usually 
is in the normal school it is still all-important in the eyes of both 
teachers and pupils. In oral examinations the examiners do not ask 
specific questions, but permit the student to talk on one or more topics 
selected at random from the year's study on the subject. 

Organization and scholarships. — As concerns their internal organi- 
zation, the primary normal schools of Latin America are of two 
classes, the day school and the boarding school. There are also a 
few examples of a third type, where the pupils live outside, but have 
the midday meal in the school (semi-internado). This type is to be 
found only in large cities. Some countries, as Chile and Peru, 
adhere very closely to the boarding school, whether for boys or 
girls. Others, as Argentina and Uruguay, have only day schools, 
where pupils not living at home lodge and board in houses approved 
by the school authorities. The problem of extramural control of 
pupils in such schools is lessened by a custom followed in all coun- 
tries, which requires a pupil not living at home to have in the town 
where he attends school a temporary guardian (apoderado), who 
stands in loco parentis and to whom the school looks to guarantee 
the proper conduct of the pupil outside the classroom. 

Formerly the boarding-school type of normal school was more 
universal than at the present day, and the system developed naturally 
from the manner in which the schools were supplied with pupils. 
There are few private normal schools in Spanish America to-day, 
and when this type of education was introduced there were none. 
The first schools were founded by the State and were considered in 
much the same light as a military academy. In the latter the boy is 
educated, clothed, fed, and trained at State expense for a specific pub- 
lic service. In return he agrees to serve the State for a fixed period 
of years. In the normal school the boy receives a different education 
and training, but it is none the less for State service. Consquently 
it seemed only just that the Government should support him during 
these years of preparation. In the United States such a system 
obtains in the national military and naval academies, but has never 
found a place in normal or other schools. The difference in practice 
is partly explained by the fact that normal education in the United 
States came gradually in the natural development of general educa- 



76 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

tion, while in Spanish America it was introduced and fostered by the 
Government. It was a distinct, conscious agency employed by 
advanced and patriotic statesmen to foster the cause of primary 
education. Under such conditions, it seemed most natural to prepare 
the teacher in the same way as the State prepared the soldier. 

Once established the system of State scholarships in normal schools 
has continued unquestioned to the present day. If it is a boarding 
school, the pupil receives in the school itself lodging and food in 
addition to free instruction and school supplies. In day schools the 
State scholars are granted a small monthly pension — just sufficient to 
meet necessary expenses. In return for this scholarship, the pupil, 
whether boy or girl, contracts with tile Government, with the consent 
of parent or guardian, and furnishes bond that he will serve the 
State as a primary teacher during a fixed number of years (varying 
from four to six) in whatever school he may be assigned or reim- 
burse the State for the expense incurred. Such a contract is possible 
in countries which are administrative units, as are all in Latin 
America, except Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela, and even 
in these countries there is a tendency to centralize the administration 
of primary education. In other countries the same central authority 
that establishes and maintains the normal schools supports the ele- 
mentary schools and appoints the teachers. 

It is reported that the contracts to serve as teachers are not always 
fulfilled, and this is doubtless true in some countries. The graduate 
may develop an inclination to follow another vocation, or none at all. 
In recent years commercial positions have become much more attrac- 
tive from the point of view of the remuneration offered than the 
profession of primary teacher. Some normal graduates have been 
tempted to desert their calling and to break faith with the Govern- 
ment. In certain localities this breach of contract has been winked 
at by the authorities. 

Another instance of irregularity sometimes occurs in the process 
of admission to the schools. The scholarships are distributed among 
the administrative units of the district where the normal school is 
located and are awarded on competitive examination. In some coun- 
tries political officers have a preponderating influence on the award- 
ing board, and sometimes the award is made on other grounds than 
those of merit. These are evils incident to the system, but in the 
progressive countries such irregularities are rare. 

In the early days of the normal school practically all pupils were 
State scholars, but that is no longer the case. Pupils do not often 
come from a distance unless they win a scholarship, but young men 
or women who live in the locality in which the school is located take 
advantage of the opportunities it presents to prepare themselves 
for the profession of teaching. Instruction is either entirely free 



NOBMAL EDUCATION. 77 

or the fees are merely nominal. It may almost be said that the 
normal school is the people's high school, since the regular second- 
ary school is organized specially to afford preparation for the 
university. 

Salaries. — The system of free State education, including State schol- 
arships in the normal schools, tends to make the teacher's salary 
small. With a corps of educational soldiers, so to speak, at its 
command, the State can set a wage that is less than what the young 
man or woman would command in other pursuits. Especially is this 
true in countries that have experienced a rapid commercial and 
industrial development. The bald statement of the teacher's stipend 
conveys but a faint idea of his economic position, and this is espe- 
cially true in Latin- America where the cost of living varies greatly, 
not only as between countries but also as between localities in the same 
country. In Buenos Aires the normal graduate just entering the 
profession receives $768 per annum; in Rio de Janeiro, $600; in 
Chile, $300 and lodging (not including board) . Lodging is of course 
a variable item, and when commuted in money serves somewhat to 
equalize the variations in cost of living in different localities. 

So marked is the discrepancy between remuneration in commercial 
and industrial pursuits on the one hand and teaching on the other 
that everywhere men are disappearing from the profession of pri- 
mary teaching. Where formerly there was a plethora of candidates 
for every vacant scholarship, there are now in some regions no can- 
didates at all. A distinguished educator in Chile has said : " The 
State begins at the wrong end; it pays its pupils, but does not re- 
munerate properly its teachers." The system has doubtless much 
to do with the present low salaries, but the same condition exists 
in a degree in other continents and can be ascribed in large part to 
the unprecedented industrial advance of the age. 

Social position. — The social status of normal-school pupils and of 
primary teachers in general is an interesting study in Latin Amer- 
ica. It is difficult to give a just appreciation of the situation, as it 
depends not only on general social conditions but on the difference in 
school systems. Latin- American society, while in many ways most 
democratic, still contains much of the medieval caste spirit. Espe- 
cially is this true of countries and regions that have not felt the 
full tide of modern industrialism. In these places wealth is almost 
wholly in land, and it is a well-known fact that a landed aristocracy 
is the most persistent and the most exclusive. The distinction there- 
fore between rich and poor, landlord and peon, is very marked. The 
advance of industrialism is breaking down class lines in some States, 
and particularly in the great centers, but in many regions thej^ are 
still strong. This tends to confine a large percentage of the en- 
rollment in many normal schools to the humbler classes. Such 



78 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

young people come from homes in which there is little culture or re- 
finement. The stock of culture that they will take with them into 
their profession must, therefore, be acquired almost wholly in the 
school. No matter how excellent the institution, it will be admitted 
by all that it has a difficult task to perform and that, while the 
young teacher may go out to his work scholastically competent, he 
must necessarily lack other qualities which are in the art of teach- 
ing scarcely less important than knowledge. This is all the more 
unfortunate since these teachers go forth to preside over children who 
in their turn come from the humblest homes, and who must get in 
the school itself almost all the notions of culture and refinement that 
they will ever get. 

Primary school and liceo. — In the United States the free public 
school is essentially a democratic institution. It is patronized very 
generally by all classes of society. Its only rival is the expensive 
private school. In some countries of Spanish America, in addi- 
tion to private and church schools, there exist two classes of free 
public schools, the elementary school for the people and the liceo 
with an adjunct primary school for the upper classes. One result 
is to put the teacher of the people's school in a distinctly lower class. 
and as the graduate of the normal school has this future to face, its 
clientele is drawn naturally from the less cultured ranks of society. 
If there were many graduations in society the effect would not be 
so marked, but as stated above there are in reality but two, the high 
and the low. 

A restriction. — Another factor which operates against the social 
status of the primary teacher, and consequently determines more or 
less the clientele of the normal school, is the fact that the primary 
teacher, whether man or woman, is practically bound for all time 
to that one grade of teaching. Since his scholastic training is merely 
a modification of secondary education, he has little opportunity for 
rising through successful experience to higher ranks in his profes- 
sion. In all countries the normal school is jointed in administration 
with the elementary school, while the secondary school is linked 
with the professional schools of law, medicine, etc. 

Personnel. — The faculty of a normal school consists of a director, 
subdirector, secretary, and professors. The director is frequently 
a foreigner. Since the normal school was a direct and ready-made 
importation, it was absolutely necessary at first to import the direct- 
ing personnel as well if the institution was to be a success. The first 
normals of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil were presided over by 
men and women from the United States; Chile called Germans to 
this work; Peru, Bolivia, Salvador, and others brought in French- 
men and Belgians. In those countries which were the pioneers in 
normal education the foreigner has almost disappeared, since there 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



iULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 19 




A. NORMAL SCHOOL NO. 1 FOR WOMEN, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. 




B. FETE IN THE MODERN LANGUAGE NORMAL SCHOOL, BUENOS Al 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 20 




A. FACADE OF NORMAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, NO. 3, SANTIAGO, CHILE. 




GROUP OF STUDENTS OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, NO. 1, SANTIAGO, 
CHILE. 



iUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 21 




A. FACADE OF NEW NORMAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, LA SARENA, CHILE. 




HIS!! 




A PATIO IN THE SAME SCHOOL. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 22 




A. FRONT VIEW OF THE NEW NATIONAL NORMAL SCHOOL, CORDOBA, 
ARGENTINA. 




B. REAR VIEW OF THE SAME BUILDING. 



SUREAU OF EDUCATION 



1ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 23 




ill' f I 1 B 

"";- —"- ?» *»*»«* c : - 

I II 






4. NORMAL SCHOOL, RIO DE JANEIRO 







ft «l»- 


|1 Mi 


M' - - jjEl 


*- ■"* £H«Maiaw9£uwsia 




: '•.:- 


A. 



?. NORMAL SCHOOL, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 24 




A. FACADE OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL, AREQUIPA, PERU. 



i 










Ki ' *k^f*""' i^j^i^y - '^ ^j 


^ " : ' : ; : :. ; ;L : - 


^- <t^u?P "• ■ - ^5**5*3fil 










■*» jLJh 



PATIO OF THE SAME SCHOOL. 



SUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 25 




A. HIGH AND NORMAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, GUATEMALA CITY. 




B. MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE PROVINCIAL NORMAL SCHOOL, CORDOBA. 
ARGENTINA. 



5UREAU OF EDUCATION 



SULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 26 




A. A COVERED PATIO IN THE MEN'S NORMAL SCHOOL, CHILLAN, CHILE. 




B. A GROUP OF STUDENTS, SUPERIOR COLLEGE FOR YOUNG LADIES, SAN JOSE, 
COSTA RICA. 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 79 

have grown up generations of native-born teachers, trained in the 
same methods and familiar with the best ideals in educational science. 
The change from foreign to native directors has come gradually. 
and in most cases without friction or professional rivalries. Many 
of these first directors are still kindly remembered and honored. 
One can not visit the famous normal school of Parana without 
hearing the name of George A. Stearns, its enthusiastic founder. 
In the vestibule of the school of La Plata stands the bust of Mary 
O'Graham, for long years its principal, while another American 
woman long in the service of Argentine schools is spending in her 
adopted land the declining years of a most useful life, a pensioner 
of the Argentine Government. 

Secretary and professors. — The secretary of the faculty or, rather, 
of the school, tabulates and preserves the attendance record and the 
monthly or quarterly classification of students as reported by the 
professors, and also the results of the formal oral examinations at 
the end of the year. Another duty is to keep a record of the at- 
tendance of the professors themselves at classes. Each subject has 
its professor, if indeed it does not have two or more. This practice, 
common in Latin America not only to normal, but to all schools above 
the elementary, necessitates many teachers, even for a small school. 
The disadvantages of this system have already been portrayed in the 
chapter on university organization. Normal schools suffer less from 
the practice than some other types of education, because of the rela- 
tive homogeneity and compactness of the curriculum. The basic 
subjects of psychology and pedagogy, together with the practice 
of teaching, are taught by the director, subdirector, and principal of 
the practice school, who give all their time to the school. Certain 
other subjects, such as mathematics and the mother tongue, are con- 
tinued through several years and thus afford sufficient work to require 
all the time of a teacher. This furnishes a group of teachers who 
form the real faculty of the school and mold its spirit. Certain 
other subjects must be assigned to teachers from the outside, who 
divide their time between various schools in the same town or are 
engaged in the practice of a profession, law, medicine, pharmacy, 
etc. The sciences, foreign languages, history, and civics are usually 
provided for in this way, and not infrequently mathematics is sub- 
divided, one professor teaching only arithmetic, another algebra, etc. 

The itinerant professor, whether a teacher by profession, or lawyer, 
physician, or follower of some other profession, who teaches as a side 
issue, comes therefore to the normal school for only one or two les- 
sons a day, and the problem of his attendance and punctuality is 
often more perplexing than that of the pupils. In the secretary's 
office is a register which each teacher signs daily before beginning 
65993°— 13 6 



80 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

or after finishing his class. He also indicates in a parallel column 
the topics of the day's lesson, not only in order to furnish a record 
of the progress of the class, but also for the benefit of the director, 
in case a substitute teacher must be provided. For, as might be ex- 
pected, a professor who divides his time between various institu- 
tions, or a man engaged in another profession, frequently finds it 
necessary or convenient to absent himself from a lesson. 

Practice teaching. — The practice school is organized as a regular 
primary sch 1 with a teacher in charge of each grade, who does all 
the teaching i the grade except such subjects as music, physical 
culture, etc. These are commonly taught by the teachers who do 
the corresponding work in the normal school itself. The two schools 
are almost invariably to be found in the same building. The director 
is the administrative head of both and is aided in the lower school 
by a director of practice teaching. So close and organic is the union 
of the two departments that the entire institution, the escuela normal 
and the escuela de aplicacion, or escuela anexa, is known as the 
normal school. The fact that both are State institutions, depending 
directly upon the minister of public instruction, prevents the devel- 
opment of any discordant relations. Everywhere the escuela de 
aplicacion is considered the best of the primary schools, and parents 
are eager to have their children admitted. Besides, where there is 
competition for entrance to the normal classes, the child who comes 
up through the practice school has a better chance for admission, and, 
on the other hand, the fact that the future clientele of the normal 
classes is to be formed in the escuela anexa makes the direction of 
the school more interesting and more important to the institution as 
a whole. 

The amount of actual practice teaching done by students varies 
widely, and, indeed, it is difficult to gather accurate data on the sub- 
ject. Observation in the classroom and actual practice are grouped 
together in answer to inquiry and on class schedules. In general, 
it may be said that observation and practice are considered of almost 
equal importance. The longer course of the normal school, in com- 
parison with normal schools in the United States, makes it possible, 
even convenient, that much more time be allotted to observation. A 
very common practice is for the whole class in the upper years to 
be present one hour each day in the escuela de aplicacion while one 
of their number gives a lesson. By this method all observe an hour 
daily, but each student does not actually teach more than an hour in 
two or three weeks, the frequency depending on the size of the normal 
class. Still, in the curriculum and class schedule this will be called 
daily exercise in practice teaching. 

Rented buildings. — In considering the school buildings a sharp 
distinction must be made between those that are State owned and 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 81 

those merely rented and remodeled, more or less thoroughly, to adapt 
them to school purposes. The North American who studies Latin- 
American education is surprised by the large number of rented build- 
ings used for primary and secondary as well as for normal schools. 
In the United States a building constructed for the purpose almost 
invariably precedes the school, if it is a State institution. If ready 
funds are not available, the State or community bonds itself for 
the necessary amount. This practice is not usual in Lgtin America, 
If the necessary money is not on hand, the authoritie^ease temporary 
quarters. Even in the countries most advanced in the matter of 
education the number of buildings rented for school purposes is very 
large, perhaps even larger in the more enterprising States than in 
the others, for the very reason that greater interest is taken in public 
instruction, and it is urged that the school must begin even if the 
building is lacking. The custom is not as incongruous as it would 
appear in the United States, on account of the difference in architec- 
tural types. It is not a business building that is rented for the 
school, but a residence. A Spanish- American house is invariably 
built about a patio around which runs a gallery and on which all 
rooms open. If the house is two stories the gallery is also, and the 
stairway is not in the house, but connects the galleries. Public 
buildings are constructed on the same model, so that in general a 
residence differs little in architectural arrangement from a school- 
house built expressly for the purpose. Good residences are large, 
the rooms spacious, and ceilings high ; consequently, in many respects 
they are not unsuited to school uses, und the milder climate permits 
the opening of all doors and windows. Their chief disadvantages 
consist in the fact that there are openings on one side only and these 
under a roofed veranda, so that even with doors and windows open 
ventilation and light are often insufficient. 

Financial disadvantages. — The policy of leasing school property 
instead of building may well be questioned froni various stand- 
points. Financially, it is a serious drain on the treasury, for the 
rent is necessarily high and repairs and alterations are always re- 
quired to adopt the house to its new use. If the lease does not run 
a long time, it becomes necessary to remove the school to a new loca- 
tion and repeat the process of installation. The expenditures of a 
few years in rent, removals, and alterations would suffice to con- 
struct a good building. Aside from the question of providing better 
hygienic conditions, a school building owned by the State confers on 
the institution a dignity that is all important in countries battling 
to extend the advantages of education among a population which is 
sometimes indifferent or even hostile to the movement. 

State-owned buildings. — The State-owned normal buildings are, 
as a rule, excellent. This class of schools has been especially favored 
by the Government, in the belief that good normal training is the 



82 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

basis of progress in public education. Latin America has profound 
respect for things modern and for things imported. The normal 
school was in both categories, and to it the nations, in their earnest 
desire to educate the masses, pinned their faith. No matter what 
was its grade of efficiency, the normal school was a term to conjure by. 

As a result of this devotion the buildings that were erected were 
worthy of the purpose for which they were designed. For day 
schools the plan is simple. If the building has two stories, the nor- 
mal classes use the upper story and the practice school the lower, and 
unless the school is large the one patio sufficies. In countries where 
the boarding normal school is the custom the building is necessarily 
much larger, more complicated, and the outlay on the part of the 
State far greater. The usual plan is a two-story structure sur- 
rounding two patios. Between and separating the patios is the 
assembly hall, which faces the main entrance. Around one patio 
are the normal classrooms and around the other the practice school- 
rooms. Each school has thus its own patio for light and recrea- 
tion, and as they are not uncommonly roofed with glass they are 
available in all weather. The second story is devoted entirely to 
lodgings. The refectory and kitchens are in the rear and adjoin- 
ing are the servants' quarters. The European type of dormitory is 
everywhere in vogue, i. e., a large hall containing many beds. Each 
dormitory is presided over by an inspector, who has a cubicle at one 
end of the hall. The dormitory is, therefore, sleeping quarters and 
nothing more. Pupils study in the evening as well as during the day 
in their respective classrooms.- The hygienic conditions are good, 
shower baths are provided, and although the building is constructed 
on the patio plan, unlike the private residence in a city block the 
rooms receive light and air from two sides, since the edifice stands 
apart. 

Equipment. — In the matter of equipment there is a wide dis- 
parity, not only .between schools but also between different features 
in the same institution. The administrative offices are always well 
furnished, often even handsomely. In the schoolrooms not much 
effort is made to beautify the surroundings. The furniture is, for 
the most part, imported and consists of desks of the pattern used in 
elementary schools in the United States. Double desks are rapidly 
giving way to single ones. Blackboard space is usually far too 
limited, if judged by North American standards. This arises from 
the prevailing method of teaching, which directs the teacher's entire 
attention to one pupil at a time and leaves the rest of the class to 
listen only. 

The library is perhaps the weakest feature of the normal school of 
to-day. Often there is no room set apart for books and for general 
reading. A few works of reference and a scant collection of peda- 



NORMAL EDUCATION". 83 

gogical treatises in the director's office comprise the library of many 
schools. Where there is a regular library room the books are not, 
as a rule, easily accessible to the student. The library in such cases 
is almost useless and fails to give to the young the desire for good 
and useful reading. A prominent Chilean educator has said : " We 
teach the children how to read, but do not teach them to want to 
read." This statement does not apply with equal force to all coun- 
tries. Argentina, among others, is striving to accustom the pupil in 
the elementary grades, as well as in the normal, to regular and 
efficient work in the library. 

Laboratories. — Considering the method by which the experimental 
sciences are usually taught, the laboratory equipment is sufficient. 
Indeed, in many cases, it is abundant. As already noticed in the 
paragraphs treating of curriculum, the method, except in Argentina 
and one or two other countries, excludes individual laboratory exer- 
cises. As all the experimentation is done by the teacher at the desk, 
a single set of apparatus is all that is needed. Nearly all normal 
schools are so provided, and many possess apparatus of a delicacy 
and complexity far exceeding the needs of a primary normal school 
curriculum in these branches. 

School museums. — Latin-American normal schools, as well as 
schools of all grades, make much of their museum of natural history. 
No matter how humble the school, it has the beginnings at least of a 
collection. Teachers, pupils, and local scientists make donations, and 
the older institutions often have collections of great value and utility. 
A room is always set apart for the museum, and much use is made of 
the collections in teaching zoology, botany, etc. There are also good 
collections of charts for instruction in physiology, history, and 
geography. The Latin- American teacher has great respect for all 
these teaching aids, and the more expensive or complicated the ap- 
paratus the greater is his confidence in its efficiency. Graphical rep- 
resentations are much used in teaching the facts of history, geography, 
and science. This objective method of presentation harmonizes well 
with the expository method of instruction so generally employed, 
but on the other hand an objective study of scientific processes which 
is secured by individual laboratory exercises is practiced in the 
normal schools of very few countries. 

HIGHER AND SPECIAL NORMAL EDUCATION. 

Primary normal schools organized and supported by the State are 
to be found in every country of Latin America. Even the smallest 
nations maintain at least one, and in the larger and populous coun- 
tries they are numerous. Primary education has profited enormously 
from them, and the progress of the elementary schools can be gauged 
very fairly by the proportion of normal schools to the total popula- 



84 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

tion. Not all primary teachers are normal graduates, but the latter 
are numerous enough in the most progressive countries to form a 
large element of the teaching corps, and they have established the 
distinct profession of primary teacher. Men and women untrained 
in the normal school are put in charge of schools, especially in the 
rural districts, but the normalistas are regarded as the only real 
primary teachers. They are the regulars; the others are militiamen. 

Teachers in secondary schools.— It is only in primary schools, 
however, that there exists a real teaching profession. In Chile con- 
siderable progress has been made toward preparing teachers for 
secondary education, but in all other countries there are few profes- 
sional teachers in the higher schools. The cause and effect of this 
situation have already been analyzed in the chapter on university 
organization. As far as the university is concerned, there seems 
little promise that present practices will be changed in the near 
future. In secondary education the need of trained professional 
teachers is universally recognized and at least two States are trying 
to meet the emergency through advanced pedagogical training. 
There are two institutions which are avowed higher normal schools 
and two others that perform this function without bearing the name. 

The Chilean Normal College. — The oldest normal school of college 
grade in South America is the Instituto Pedagogico of Chile, which 
was opened for instruction in April, 1890. In its modern organiza- 
tion the university of Chile contains theoretically a faculty of phil- 
osophy and letters, but the only section of the faculty that has been 
organized is the normal college. The Republic realized that its 
energies and resources could be better utilized in training a skilled 
professorate for its secondary schools than in fostering general lit- 
erary culture. The latter might be ornamental, but the former was 
distinctly useful, and the results obtained by the normal college in 
the 20 years of its history have fully justified the policy. The 
institution has been the fountainhead of the national educational 
system. It has prepared teachers not only for the secondary schools 
but also for the primary normal schools, and through this channel 
its influence has extended to the humblest grades of public instruc- 
tion. 

Foreign professors. — Coincident with the creation of the school, 
the Government contracted with the Prussian Government for the 
services of six capable educators to direct the institution and to fill 
the more important chairs. The original contract was for a period 
of five years. At the end of that time some professors renewed the 
contract, others returned to Prussia, but in their stead new men came 
out, and there have always been from four to six Germans on the 
teaching staff. This group of foreigners has been considered the 
essential nucleus of the faculty. Chilean educators, many of them 



NOBMAL EDUCATION". 85 

trained in the school itself, have been added from time to time to the 
staff, and the director has often been a Chilean, but the dominant 
influence has remained German. It is worthy of note that two of 
the original Prussian contractants are still members of the faculty, 
and one of them is now acting director. 

General plan. — The policy of the Instituto Pedagogico has been 
to give the student accurate, thorough, and scientific instruction in 
the branches that he is preparing himself to teach, and at the same 
time instruct and train him in modern scientific methods. The 
departments of instruction include advanced study in all subjects 
that form a part of the curricula of secondary and normal schools, 
such as Spanish, French, English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, 
botany, physiology, zoology, history, civics, .geography, psychology, 
pedagogy, and methodology. For the purpose of furnishing facilities 
for practice teaching, two liceos — one for boys, the other for girls — 
are maintained in close proximity to the institute, and the professor 
of psychology is the titular head of the liceo for boys. 

Coeducation. — When the Instituto Pedagogico was founded the 
students were all young men. No provision was made for women 
and, indeed, their advent was not thought of. At that time the 
State did not concern itself with the general education of girls beyond 
the primary grades, and naturally there was no necessity of prepar- 
ing women secondary teachers. There were needed, however, women 
teachers for the girls' normal schools. A few young women asked 
admission to the institute. It was granted under certain restric- 
tions and with some protest. It was the first instance of coeducation 
in Chile outside the lowest grades of the primary schools. Later 
the State began the foundation of high schools for girls. For these 
there were required ever-increasing numbers of women teachers, and 
the Instituto Pedagogico was the logical place for their prepara- 
tion. Young women became more and more numerous in the school, 
and at present they outnumber the young men three to one. 

Groups of studies. — As the object of the school is to prepare the 
graduate to teach a certain branch, or two or more related branches, 
free election of studies as practiced in many American colleges 
would not be compatible with the aims of the institution. It is not 
a college of liberal arts, but distinctly a higher normal school. The 
curriculum is, therefore, divided into groups, and the student's 
election privileges are restricted to choosing his group. Within the 
group the studies are definitely prescribed. Psychology, logic, ethics, 
political science, pedagogy, and methodology are common to all 
groups, as is also the requirement of practice teaching and observa- 
tion. 

The groups are seven in number, each designated by the study or 
studies that constitute its major. The course of study comprises 



86 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

four years for each group, making about 60 year-hours, exclusive of 
practice teaching. Of these, 15 are common to all groups. The 
Spanish, French, English, and German groups require 25 hours in 
the major study and about 20 in another language. The history- 
geography group also gives 25 hours to the two majors and demands 
20 hours in a foreign language. In the physico-mathematical and 
chemico-biological science groups no language (not even Spanish) 
is required, and the course is more compact and specialized. In the 
first, 20 hours are devoted to mathematics and 21 to physics; chem- 
istry receives 4 hours. In the second, the biological sciences receive 
22 hours, chemistry 18, and mathematics 8. 

Students are graduates of a high school before entering the insti- 
tute. Consequently, the work of the latter corresponds very closely, 
both in the grade of the. studies and in the time required for their 
completion, to the North American college. 

Latin. — A subject which is common to the language groups is 
Latin. In Chile, as in many other Spanish-American States, Latin 
and other dead languages are not only omitted from the curriculum 
whether it be a primary, secondary, or higher school, but are even 
forbidden by the law of the land. The German educators who 
formulated the curriculum and policy of the Instituto Pedagogico 
contended that serious instruction in Spanish and other Komanic lan- 
guages required a certain familiarity with the parent tongue, since a 
just appreciation of the forms and syntactical structure of these 
modern languages could only be gained by a knowledge of the his- 
toric processes that changed Latin into the Neo-Latin languages. To 
meet this argument, Latin was introduced into the institute, although 
proscribed elsewhere, and a three-year course is given in the Spanish 
and French sections and one year in the English and German sec- 
tions. The course is limited in scope, is chiefly grammatical, and is 
designed solely to serve as a basis for the historical study of modern 
languages. 

Building and equipment. — The Instituto Pedagogico occupies a 
good building of two and three stories, which, in most respects, is 
well adapted to the work. The classrooms are ample and com- 
fortably furnished. The library contains 3,000 volumes carefully 
chosen and suited to the work of professors and students. It only 
needs better cataloguing to adapt it to the needs of the institution. 

The laboratories are excellent, and ample provision is made for 
individual laboratory work on the part of the students. The depart- 
ments of history and geography, which are combined under one pro- 
fessor, are well equipped with a very large collection of maps, charts, 
and a special library. The most recent acquisition in the line of 
scientific equipment is a complete laboratory of experimental 
psychology. The liceo for boys, which constitutes a practice school 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 27 




A. KINDERGARTEN, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL. 




B. BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL, SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



iULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 28 




A. NORMAL SCHOOL, SALTILLO, STATE OF COAHUILA, MEXICO. 




B. MODEL SCHOOL, ITAPETI N I NGA, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL. 



NOKMAL EDUCATION. 87 

for the institute, occupies a new and handsome building directly in 
the rear, with a communicating - passage through the patio; and the 
other practice school, the liceo for girls, is distant only two blocks. 

Foreigner or native? — At different periods in the past decade a 
movement has developed to withdraw the institution from the direc- 
tion of the German professors and replace them with native teachers, 
graduates of the school. The Government, however, has always 
opposed the idea, contending that the foreign professors have built 
up the school, formulated its policies and methods, given it an 
acknowledged prestige at home and abroad, and are still indis- 
pensable to its stability and further expansion. The movement, so 
far unsuccessful, springs from two sources. Chilean leaders in edu- 
cation, themselves well educated at home and many having even pur- 
sued postgraduate studies abroad, have the laudable ambition to take 
charge of their own national schools and establish their educational 
independence. They admit that the school needs perhaps foreign 
experts in some lines, but claim that the direction and general admin- 
istration should now be intrusted to Chileans who have proved their 
worth and their ability. The other source of discontent is the feeling 
that Prussian methods lack elasticity, that they force all minds into 
the same rigid mold, and that as a result of the impression given in 
the Instituto Pedagogico all Chilean education is too formal and 
that initiative is sacrificed to method. 

The Argentina higher normal school. — The marked success of 
the Instituto Pedagogico of Chile led Argentina to establish, in 1904, 
a similar institution under the name of Instituto Nacional del Pro- 
f esorado Secundario. The need of trained teachers for the liceos 
and other schools of secondary grade was appreciated in Argentina 
at that time and is still felt today, but the higher normal school has 
not had the same success or achieved the same prominence as the 
Chilean institution. Different circumstances have contributed to this 
result. In the first place the school was founded much later in 
the historical development of secondary education. The bias had 
already been given and traditional practices already crystallized. 
The Chilean teachers' college was established at the psychological 
moment — at the time of educational expansion and the formulation 
of modern ideals in educational method. The Argentina institu- 
tion came 30 years after the establishment of the primary normal 
schools, and was regarded as an interloper in the educational field. 
This feeling was accentuated by the presence in the national uni- 
versity of a regular faculty of letters and philosophy, which held 
that it was the special prerogative of the university to furnish teach- 
ers for the secondary schools ; the faculties of letters and philosophy 
in the realm of literature, geography, and philosophy ; the faculty of 
law in the subjects of civics and history; and the faculties of science 



88 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

and medicine in the departments of science. Subject to this antago- 
nism the Institute Nacional del Profesorado Secundario has not 
succeeded in making for itself a distinct place in the national system 
of education, in spite of its recognized utility. It lacks the prestige 
that the university possesses, has never had a suitable building, and 
has been compelled to fight for its very existence. As in Chile, a 
group of German professors was called to establish the school and 
direct its policy. This fact in itself has embittered the antagonism 
to the institution. Few countries are so intensely national as Argen- 
tina, and while the new school was a governmental creation, popular 
sentiment among educational classes resented the introduction of an 
institution designed to replace a traditional and national form. 
The intransigentism of the German professors, who insisted on trans- 
planting intact the Prussian system to Argentine soil irrespective of 
local conditions, did not tend to allay the sentiment of rivalry and 
resentment. These discouraging features, added to the subsequent 
establishment of pedagogical courses in the University of Buenos 
Aires and the formation of a pedagogical section in the new Uni- 
versity of La Plata, have restricted the usefulness of the higher 
normal school. 

Curriculum. — The course of study corresponds very closely to that 
of the Instituto Pedagogico of Santiago both in length of term and 
in subject matter. In the matter of groups, however, there is more 
diversity, at least in form. The Argentine school contains two 
general groups, one embracing languages, literature, philosophy, and 
the social science ; the other mathematics and all other sciences. The 
first group contains nine subdivisions, the second five. All biological 
sciences are grouped in one section. The student elects two sub- 
divisions in one of the two general groups. Certain subdivisions 
must be combined, such as political science and history, geography 
and geology, mineralogy and chemistry. The classes in psychology, 
pedagogy, etc., together with practice teaching and observation, are 
common to all. The studies in foreign languages are not pursued 
in the institution itself. Students electing any one of these divisions 
follow the classes in a special school that will be described later. 

Special course. — In addition to the regular four-year course for 
high-school graduates, the institute maintains a short course of one 
year for graduates of the university who desire to add a teacher's 
diploma to the professional title or doctorate received in a faculty. 
These students come principally from the faculties of law and medi- 
cine, since, as has already been noticed, a lawyer or physician fre- 
quently joins the task of teaching in a secondary or special school 
with the practice of his profession. The course of study for these 
diflomados consists of a general four-hour course in psychology and 
pedagogy, and another six-hour course in the methodology and prac- 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 89 

tice teaching of the specialty for which the candidate's university 
studies have prepared him. 

Equipment. — The institute has charge of one of the liceos of 
Buenos Aires, which serves as its model school and field for practice 
teaching. . The liceo is the real center of the institute's life. Here are 
located the administrative offices and the departments of chemistry 
and biological sciences. Other departments are distributed among 
four different rented houses in the neighborhood. These buildings 
are necessarily ill-adapted to teaching purposes, especially when a 
laboratory forms part of a department, and they also involve con- 
siderable expense, since in addition to the cost of alterations the 
annual rental is $6,000. 

A teachers' college in the university. — A second institution for 
higher normal instruction in Argentina is the result of a spontaneous 
evolution of the national education, and does not even bear the name 
of normal school. The University of Buenos Aires is one of the few 
Latin- American universities that have retained a real faculty of 
philosophy and letters. In its present organization, it includes 
departments of philosophy, education, history, geography, sociology, 
anthropology, American archeology, Latin and Greek languages and 
literatures, esthetics and general literature, and the literatures of 
Spain and southern Europe. There are 20 full professors and 12 
substitute and assistant professors. Five years are prescribed for 
the complete course, which is divided about equally between literary 
and philosophical studies. On the completion of the course, the 
passing of a comprehensive oral examination, and the presentation 
of an acceptable thesis the student receives the degree of doctor of 
philosophy and letters. In this part of its work the faculty is fol- 
lowing its historical function. The regulations, however, permit 
a student to elect one or more lines of study, and after he has com- 
pleted the full course offered in these departments, passed a com- 
prehensive examination, and submitted a thesis, he is eligible to the 
title of professor. As a matter of fact, candidates for the doctorate 
are few. Nearly all students are preparing to teach in the secondary 
schools. Even those who elect the regular course and take the doc- 
tor's degree look forward to the professorate, but in a higher sphere. 

In order to meet this new demand, the faculty has added courses 
in educational science and experimental psychology and established 
an efficient psychological laboratory. In this way, through the 
natural course of events and with the simple desire to meet a new 
demand, the college of letters and philosophy in the University of 
Buenos Aires has become in reality, although not in name, a teachers' 
college. It has, however, no practice school and its graduates re- 
ceive no experimental training in the art of teaching. This fact 
differentiates it from the Instituto Nacional del Profesorado 



90 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

Secundario, and is one of the causes of rivalry between the two 
institutions. The one contends that knowledge of the subject and 
theoretic pedagogy are sufficient to make the teacher ; the other insists 
on the necessity of practical training. The graduates of this faculty 
become teachers of literature, language, history, geography, civics, 
and philosophy only, since no courses are offered in sciences. 
Teachers of science must receive their preparation either in the 
National Institute or in the faculties of science and medicine. The 
normal-school tendency of the faculty of letters can be traced in 
the increasing number of women students. At present the women 
are in the majority. The ratio is yearly increasing, and the move- 
ment is sure to continue unless teaching can be made more attractive 
to the ambitious young man. 

Another teachers' 1 college. — The University of La Plata also makes 
provision for the training of teachers in its department of pedagogics, 
which forms one section of the faculty of social and juridical sciences. 
The introduction of pedagogy was not an evolution, as in the Uni- 
versity of Buenos Aires. La Plata entertains the distinct ambition of 
enriching all grades of instruction by developing real scholars and 
scientists and by training a superior professorate. Its pedagogical 
section is, therefore, carefully and highly organized. There are two 
courses of study — the first, for those who have already acquired 
knowledge of the subjects they intend to teach; the other, for stu- 
dents in other departments of the university who wish to train them- 
selves for teachers at the same that they pursue scientific or literary 
studies. The first course is intensive during the first two years, with 
30 hours per week of class and laboratory exercises and practice 
teaching. Then follow two more years of advanced pedagogical 
study, requiring but a few hours per week, and which may be done in 
connection with actual teaching if the student has a position in 
La Plata or a neighboring town. The degree for this course is pro- 
fessor of secondary instruction. 

The other course is not so intensive nor so comprehensive. It 
covers three years, includes psychology, methodology, history and 
science of education and school legislation, requires considerable 
observation and practice teaching, and leads to the degree of pro- 
fessor of a designated subject or subjects, depending upon the line 
of specialization in the university. The teachers' section in La Plata 
has the advantage, not possessed by the University of Buenos Aires, 
of having abundant opportunities for practical instruction. There 
are two preparatory schools, one for boys the other for girls, which 
form an organic part of the university and are controlled by the dean 
of the pedagogical section. These are used as practice schools. 
There is also a primary school affiliated with the university, which 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 91 

serves as a practice school for primary and other teachers who come 
to the university for the intensive course in scientific and practical 
pedagogy. 

SPECIAL NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

Argentina possesses two special normal schools of unusual interest. 
An institution for the preparation of teachers of foreign languages 
is located at the capital, and forms a part of the national system of 
education ; the other is a provincial establishment for the training of 
men teachers for the rural schools. 

The foreign-language training school is known as La Escuela Nor- 
mal de Lenguas Vivas. Modern languages occupy a most important 
position in all schools of secondary grade, liceos and normal, com- 
mercial and industrial institutions. As far as the practical side is 
concerned, they are excellently taught, but in order to improve still 
more the practical teaching of foreign languages the Government 
founded this special school, and decreed a course of study that is as 
efficient as it is unique. The institution comprises two schools, a 
primary and a secondary. In the first is given a regular primary 
education with the addition of one or two foreign languages, French 
and English. The language instruction is eminently practical, and 
the pupils learn to understand and speak as well as to read and write. 
On entering the upper school the student elects the langauge she 
expects to teach — it is a school for girls only — and from this time 
on all instruction in all subjects of the curriculum, except Spanish, 
is given in the language which the student is preparing to teach, and 
usually by teachers for whom this language is the mother tongue. 
In other words, the high school is an English school for one section 
and a French school for the other. The curriculum varies somewhat 
for the different sections ; for example, history in the French section 
means especially history of France and of the French; in the other 
section the stress is laid on English history. The same is true of 
geography and civics, and necessarily the studies in literature are 
totally different. The study of the language itself is also continued, 
so that by the time the girl finishes her high-school course she is 
admirably grounded in the foreign tongue, and at the same time has 
studied the people, their history, literature and customs, society, and 
politics. In addition, she has studied methodology, and has been 
trained in the art of teaching the language by means of practice 
iessons in the primary department. The curriculum of the prepara- 
tory school covers three years and that of the high school four years. 
For the preparation of foreign-language teachers a better method 
could scarcely be devised. 

The Alberdi School. — In a country so distinctly agricultural as 
Argentina the rural school is a matter of supreme importance, and 



92 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

when it is also conceded that it should be a primary agricultural 
school as well as a nursery for the " three E's," the formation of a 
teaching corps becomes a serious problem. The ordinary normal 
graduate is seldom found in the country. The salary is too small, and 
the material difficulties are forbidding to a young man accustomed 
to urban life. Besides, in Argentina, as in the United States, few 
young men prepare themselves to teach in elementary schools, either 
rural or urban. The normal school at Parana, one of the oldest and 
most efficient in Argentina, has not graduated a dozen men in the last 
dozen years in the elementary teachers' course. This dearth of men 
teachers has resulted in rilling the country schools with women, or 
with men who have no pedagogical training and little interest in 
the profession of education. 

It remained for the Province of Entre Rios, of which the capital 
is Parana, to inaugurate a plan that aims to accomplish two much- 
desired results: First, to provide the country schools with men 
teachers who sympathize with country life ; second, to train these 
teachers in agriculture as well as in pedagogy. In 1905 there was 
founded in the open country, 10 miles from Parana, a special normal 
school for boys, in which the studies are half academic and half agri- 
cultural. It is a school farm. The land comprises 400 hectares and 
cost, with the original farm building, $11,000. Other buildings have 
since been erected, some for school purposes, others for the uses of 
the farm. The pupils are all boarders. The Province established 30 
free scholarships on the opening of the school, and pledged itself to 
increase the number as the plant was enlarged and the institution 
proved its usefulness. A day primary school is maintained on the 
farm for the children of the neighborhood, and it serves as a model 
and practice school. 

The country schools in Latin America do not contain the full 
complement of six grades, but are usually limited to three or four. 
A country teacher, therefore, does not need a large academic equip- 
ment. Boys who have completed the short elementary course of the 
rural school can therefore enter the Alberdi Normal and Agricultural 
Institute. The course of study here covers three years. As far as the 
academic studies are concerned the curriculum is extremely simple, 
being a continuation of only those subjects that the boy has pursued 
in the primary school and which he in turn will have to teach — 
Spanish, arithmetic, elementary geometry and drawing, history, 
civics, and geography. Each of these subjects is continued through- 
out the entire three years. The professional studies consist of peda- 
gogy, likewise continued during the three years, and such practical 
subjects as school hygiene, practical psychology, methodology of ele- 
mentary subjects, together with observation and practice teaching. 



NORMAL EDUCATION. 93 

The studies in agriculture are not a side issue or a species of dilet- 
tantism. The institution is as much an agricultural school as a 
normal school. There is a professor of agriculture, another of zoo- 
technics, and a third of applied sciences. The agricultural studies 
run parallel with the academic throughout the entire course and are 
essentially practical. Instruction is given in the field, and much of 
the cultivation and care of live stock is the work of the students them- 
selves. After three years of training the student of "Alberdi " is an 
expert agriculturist as well as a schoolmaster, and the Province of 
Entre Rios purposes to disseminate this technical knowledge through 
the rural population by means of the country school. Each rural 
school has 4 hectares of land, which constitute the school garden 
and farm. The regular elementary curriculum includes agriculture, 
theoretical and practical, as does the rural normal school, and the 
teacher, who is both normalista and ag?-icultor y is expected to devote 
no less attention to scientific and practical education in agriculture 
than he does to academic instruction. The Province provides a house 
for the teacher beside the school building. The 4 hectares of land 
are in a sense the teacher's property while he remains in the position, 
and the products of the tract are his to use or to sell. Under such a 
system the rural school is more than a mere school ; it is a school farm 
where the two elements of a rural education receive equal attention. 



CHAPTER XI. 
COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 

This branch of instruction has taken a strong hold upon the 
Latin-American mind. The rapidly increasing commerce, better 
means of communication through international railways and faster 
steamship lines, and the conviction now firmly established that 
national superiority in the present era must be based on economic 
advantage have led the Latin-American countries, almost without 
exception, to foster commercial education by all the means within 
their command. In some States, it is made almost a fetich. Aside 
from the purely pedagogic and economic reasons that prompt the 
movement, there are two others which are distinctly political. Under 
the old regime of semi-isolation to which these countries, on account 
of their geographical position, were subjected, the only career of 
importance open to young men was that of the so-called liberal pro- 
fessions, and these led more or less directly to political life. As a 
result, the countries were burdened with hosts of factious, even if 
well-meaning politicians. This class, embracing the best blood and 
the strongest brains of the State, was not productive, and economic 
activities either languished or passed into the hands of foreigners. 

Outside capital entered with- the opening of commercial advantages, 
but it did not come to increase the productivity of native companies 
and local commercial houses; it came as a distinct foreign corpora- 
tion, having a foreign manager, and, except in the humblest stations, 
foreign employees. These men rarely entertained the idea of settling 
definitely in the country and acquiring citizenship. Their stay was 
but temporary, and in time they were replaced by a new contingent 
from across the seas. It was a foreign commercial invasion, made 
possible largely because of the distaste and educational unfitness of 
the native for commercial pursuits. The double danger of internal 
political strife and of external commercial domination came in time 
to be keenly realized by farseeing statesmen. An antidote for both 
seemed to be the commercial school. It would dignify economic 
activities hitherto disdained; it would draw off from the unproduc- 
tive liberal professions and thus indirectly from political life a por- 
tion of the youth of the nation, and it would prepare a phalanx of 
young men who could combat the foreign tradesmen with his own 
weapons. From a patriotic point of view, these motives are entirely 
praiseworthy. They have contributed very largely to the founda- 
94 



COMMEECIAL EDUCATION". 95 

tion of commercial schools, and to the formation of public opinion 
in favor of an education which was foreign to the spirit and tradition 
of the race. The schools have realized in a very large measure the 
patriotic purposes that contributed to their establishment. In the 
more commercial nations political strife has become less intense, com- 
mercial and industrial pursuits have risen in social estimation, trade 
is claiming more and more of the brains of the nation, and local 
initiative is developing industries that in former times invariably 
awaited the coming of the foreign capitalist. Other forces have 
doubtless aided in the movement, but the influence of the school is 
not to be minimized, and the Latin- American with his love of system 
has faith in the school because it is an organized, systematic agency. 

Different systems. — Although commercial education is very general 
it is organized on different lines in different countries. In some 
it is made an integral required branch in all secondary instruction; 
in others it is merely a section of the high-school course, existing 
side by side with the literary and scientific courses ; in still others it 
is a separate school, a distinct commercial high school. The last- 
named type is perhaps the most favored. Educators maintain that 
it produces the best results, because of its segregation from the tra- 
ditional forms of instruction; that the pupils are removed from the 
allurements of the literary course that prepares for the university, 
and from the aristocratic, nonpractical atmosphere which it devel- 
ops; and that the prestige of the school is advanced by the separate 
organization. Opposing these arguments it may be said that the 
union of distinct courses in the same school, under the same general 
management, has its advantages and is much more economical. 
That it is not incompatible with conditions in Spanish America is 
proved by the experience of some countries, notably Costa Rica. 

The Chilean system. — Chile is the strongest advocate of the sepa- 
rate school, and the system has there attained unquestionable suc- 
cess. Although the policy of commercial education is still young in 
Chile, and the first schools were established little more than a decade 
ago, there are already a dozen State schools in as many towns, and 
the enrollment reaches the surprising figure of 2,000 in the clay classes 
alone. In the city schools the registration in evening classes is often 
as great as in the day section. If to these are added the enrollment 
of commercial sections in private and church schools, the total is com- 
paratively large. 

Curriculum. — The course of study covers four years, of which the 
first is called preparatory. The commercial school of Chile is not of 
high-school rank in its first years. Of the common primary schools 
only a limited number maintain the full complement of six grades; 
many are of second rank, containing but three or four grades and 
65993°— 13 7 



96 



LATIN-AMEEICAN UNIVERSITIES. 



giving only the rudiments of a common-school education, reading, 
writing, and elementary arithmetic. From these " folk schools " 
comes the greatest number of commercial-school pupils, and a certain 
additional preparation is necessary. This is given in the first or 
preparatory year. The mother tongue, arithmetic, and penmanship 
are continued; geography, history, and elementary science are intro- 
duced, and the study of English is begun with six hours of class 
work per week. The Chilean commercial school is therefore midway 
between an elementary school and a high school. The first year, at 
least, is distinctly primary, but the preparation it affords is better 
than could be given in a regular primary school, since studies in his- 
tory and geography are given a commercial bias, and the introduction 
of a foreign language at an early stage constitutes a decided advan- 
tage for a commercial career. 

Below is given a course of study for the last three years, which 
constitute the commercial school proper: 



Chilean commercial cour.se of study. 





Hours per week . 


Subjects of instruction. 


First 
year. 


Second 
year. 


Third 
year. 


English 


6 
4 
3 
5 
4 


6 
3 
4 
5 

3 
4 
3 










10 




3 


Stenography, typewriting, and drawing 


3 




4 


4 








3 




9 










Total 


32 


33 


36 







The curriculum is not absolutely uniform for all schools, but the 
variations are so insignificant that it would be useless to enter into 
many details. French is sometimes substituted for German, but 
English is everywhere required, and the amount of time devoted to 
it varies but little. 

Interest in commercial education. — Commercial education enjoys 
in Chile a very high degree of public and governmental favor. The 
State takes pride in equipping the schools to the full extent of its 
ability, and the local municipality and chamber of commerce often 
add to the equipment of the home institution. It even appeals to 
individual generosity above other forms of education because of its 
evidently practical nature, and business men make donations to the 
support and betterment of the institution. 

Methods. — Although the commercial high school of Chile is one 
form of secondary instruction and not merely a business college, its 



COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 97 

avowed policy is to emphasize the practical. Instruction in all lines 
becomes less bookish, less dogmatic than elsewhere, and in the teach- 
ing of geography, history, and languages material devices are used 
wherever the subject will permit and the resources of the school make 
possible. The commercial museum, with its exhibits of raw and 
manufactured articles, native woods, minerals, grains, and charts 
representing processes of manufacture and types of machinery too 
bulky or expensive for exhibition, forms a distinct feature of every 
school. Its extent varies with the size and resources of the institu- 
tion, but its value in instruction is universally recognized. 

Instructors. — Another fact that explains the quality of instruction 
in the commercial school is the number of teachers that devote all 
their time to the one institution. In the liceo, with its wide range 
of studies and the policy of specialization prevalent in South America, 
many instructors teach but a short time each day, and spend the 
remainder of the day in other schools or in the practice of a pro- 
fession. Since the commercial school has a relatively short curric- 
ulum and many subjects are continued throughout the entire course, 
most teachers can be employed throughout the entire scholastic day. 
This creates a unity of purpose and a feeling of pride in the institu- 
tion that is conducive of better results. 

The parent school. — The general excellence and uniformity of aim 
and method that mark all commercial schools in Chile are due in 
large measure to the normal course, which forms an important sec- 
tion of the Escuela Superior de Comercio of Santiago. This school 
is the oldest in the country, and in addition to the regular course 
similar to that in other schools maintains two advanced sections of 
two years each. One is a general course in commerce, economics, 
and administration; the other offers special training for teachers 
in commercial schools. The program of studies in the latter section 
is but a continuation of the most important subjects in the lower 
school, with the addition of a course in methodology. Particular 
attention is given to foreign-language study. The normal course 
itself is bifurcated. Foreign language and methodology are com- 
mon to both divisions, but in one mathematics and bookkeeping form 
the specialty, while in the other it is science and commercial tech- 
nology. The importance of this commercial normal course can 
hardly be overestimated. In the era of the establishment of com- 
mercial schools it sent out men with similar ideals and well- formed 
conceptions of the nature, type, and utility of this form of instruc- 
tion, and has ever since remained a center to which all look for 
inspiration and improved methods. Most principals and many pro- 
fessors of the commercial schools in the Provinces are graduates or 
former students of the central school at Santiago. 



98 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

The Argentine type. — The type of commercial education in Argen- 
tina is much the same as in Chile, but the federated system of govern- 
ment in the former country prevents the unity and uniformity that 
characterize the Chilean schools. The Argentine States are inde- 
pendent in affairs educational; consequently, provincial schools vary 
greatly, not only in curriculum but in method and purpose. The 
Federal Government, however, has the right to establish and main- 
tain schools on its own account if it so decides, and in recent years 
the tendency has been in favor of central control of education — 
primary, special, and higher. Many States had already founded 
commercial schools, but facilities and equipment were often insuffi- 
cient and unworthy of the economic advance of the country. The 
Federal Government at last came to the support of this type of 
education, and has founded a chain of schools under the name of 
Escuelas Comerciales de la Nacion, of which there were seven in 
existence in 1911— three in the capital and one each in Rosario, 
Bahia Blanca, Tucuman, and Concordia. One of the three at Buenos 
Aires is for women only. In the provincial towns some of the 
schools are coeducational. Three grades of diplomas are granted. 
That of dependiente idoneo requires three years of study; that of 
tenedor de libros, four years; and that of perito mercantile five years. 
The two higher schools of commerce at Buenos Aires and Rosario 
offer also an advanced course of three years for public accountants. 
For entrance to this course the diploma of commercial expert (perito 
mercantil), or an examination covering similarly advanced studies, 
is required. It is a course of university grade, and a minimum age 
of 19 is required for entrance. 

A commercial high school. — The standard course in the Argentine 
commercial school is that which leads to the title of perito mercantil 
and embraces five years of study. This is the same length of cur- 
riculum as in the regular Argentine liceo, and as entrance require- 
ments are identical for the two the commercial school is in reality 
a high school. In this respect it differs from the commercial school 
of Chile, which articulates with the third or fourth grade of the ele- 
mentary school. The more advanced entrance requirements and the 
longer curriculum permit the Argentine school to give more atten- 
tion to nontechnical studies. Consequently the school is an insti- 
tution of general culture as well as a commercial school. A schedule 
of this course is herewith presented. 



COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 
Argentine commercial school course. 





Hours per week. 


Subjects of instruction. 


First 
year. 


Second 
year. 


Third 
year. 


Fourth 
year. 


Fifth 
year. 




6 
6 


6 

4 


5 
3 

2 


3 
3 


3 




3 








4 
4 
4 


3 
3 
2 
























4 
3 
5 


4 
3 

5 

2 
















4 


5 






3 










2 






2 


2 


2 


2 
















2 
6 


3 




6 


6 


6 


6 






Total- 


30 


30 


30 


30 


30 







Schools of Commerce. — In Bolivia and Uruguay commercial in- 
struction is organized not as a part of secondary education but as 
a faculty of university grade. A high-school diploma or an exami- 
nation covering the secondary school curriculum is required for 
entrance. These faculties were established for advanced study in 
commerce, finance, and administration. Among their functions is 
included the training of consuls, collectors of customs, public account- 
ants, and administrators of State properties. The school at La Paz 
has always been an independent faculty, since there are no uni- 
versities in Bolivia. The institution at Montevideo was incorporated 
into the university in 1904, but seven years later was organized as an 
independent school of commerce. It retains, however, much the same 
characteristics as heretofore, and is housed in the same building as 
the faculty of law. The change is almost wholly one of name, and in 
becoming an independent institution it has but followed the same 
tendency toward decentralization which has been shown by other 
institutions of higher education in Uruguay. In recent years the 
agricultural and veterinary faculties have also been detached from 
the university and erected into separate schools. The Montevideo 
school has maintained but a single course of study, extending over 
three years, and leading to the diploma of perito mercantil. The first 
two years of the same course, with the omission of foreign language 
study, leads to the lesser diploma of contador. The Bolivian school 
at La Paz has a course of study of five years which is both more 
extensive in scope and more intensive in content. The first two years 
are termed " preparatory," and include courses in mathematics, 
physics, chemistry, commercial geography and history, French, and 
English (both languages have already been studied in the lower 
school), and beginning courses in stenography and typewriting. In 



100 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

the regular three-year course that follows, the study of foreign 
languages is continued, but the greater part of the student's time is 
given to the more technical branches, such as commercial operations, 
banking, exchange, commercial law, etc. The last year contains two 
divisions. One prepares especially for banking and international 
commerce ; the other for the profession of consul, collector of customs, 
and other governmental administrative parts. 

The commercial school of La Paz offers also a two-year course for 
girls. This section is distinctly elementary and practical, and a 
primary education only is required for entrance. 

Commercial education in Brazil. — The subject of commercial edu- 
cation has not received the same attention or reached the same stage 
of development in Brazil that it has in certain other countries of 
South America. The Federal Government has established no school 
of this class and only one State has made the commercial school a 
regular part of the educational system. Neither are commercial 
branches included in the high-school curricula. The few commercial 
schools that exist are private foundations. In nearly every case 
they receive subsidies from the State or municipality, but there is 
no unity of method, purpose, or curriculum. Less than a dozen 
schools are in operation and the total enrollment does not exceed 
1,000. The two most important are the School of Commerce at Sao 
Paulo and the Academy of Commerce at Rio de Janeiro, but in both 
the scope of the curriculum is narrower and the amount of technical 
study less than in the national commercial schools of Chile, Argen- 
tina, and Uruguay. The school at Rio de Janeiro is an adjunct 
of a commercial museum, which is much more important than the 
school, and is doing a valuable service in advertising abroad Bra- 
zilian products and Brazilian commercial opportunities. The school 
holds only evening sessions. This is true also of the regular course 
in the school of Sao Paulo. The latter institution possesses a mag- 
nificent building, the generous gift of a public-spirited citizen. The 
course of study comprises four years, including a preparatory year. 
For admission only the most elementary education is required. The 
first three years are devoted wholly to the study of foreign lan- 
guages and elementary subjects, with the exception of a class in book- 
keeping in the third year. To the fourth year are assigned the 
really technical branches. An advanced course of two years prepares 
for banking, international commerce, and consular service, but the 
enrollment in this section is very small. Brazil is just awakening 
to the advantages of public commercial schools. Small centers are 
beginning to establish schools after the model of the one at Sao 
Paulo. Like the parent institution they are conducted in the even- 
ing only, and the patronage comes almost entirely from young men 
already in business positions. 



vw 



V 



T 








COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 101 

Evening classes. — It is not alone in Brazil that evening classes in 
commercial schools are in vogue. In the countries that have the most 
successful systems of commercial education, the night school rivals 
the day section. Particularly is this true in the cities. At Val- 
paraiso, Buenos Aires, and Eosario the enrollment in the evening 
classes constitutes two-fifths of the entire registration. Every 
national school of commerce in Argentina is required by law to 
maintain evening classes. The course of study in the night school 
is not merely preliminary or special. The entire curriculum of the 
first four years is repeated, and a student may graduate in this sec- 
tion, receiving either of the two elementary diplomas. 

In the other countries. — The Federal Government of Mexico main- 
tains at the capital two national schools of commerce, one for men, 
the other for women. Admission is based upon the completion of 
the higher primary curriculum, and the course of study extends over 
two years. The annual enrollment is six or seven hundred. 

Peru and Colombia have a mixed system of State commercial 
schools. In the former there is a commercial college at Lima which 
receives national and municipal subsidies, and two primary com- 
mercial and industrial schools at Yurimaguas and Iquitos. In addi- 
tion, the national high schools contain a section of commercial 
studies. 

In the reorganization of her educational system, Colombia has 
planned the establishment of commercial colleges in the provincial 
universities and the incorporation of commercial studies in one type 
of national high schools. The grade of instruction will be much 
the same in both institutions. 

Commercial studies in high schools. — The other countries of 
Latin America do not maintain separate schools of commerce, but in 
practically ail some provision is made for commercial education. 
Many private commercial schools are regularly subsidized. In addi- 
tion, commercial studies are introduced into the secondary school 
curriculum. This method assumes three distinct forms, depending 
upon the form of high-school organization. In most countries the 
regular high-school curriculum comprises but a single course of study, 
which is uniform for all pupils. In such cases the commercial studies 
are made a part of the common curriculum and are required of 
all. Where this organization is followed, the commercial branches 
are necessarily limited in number, elementary in character, and 
reserved for the last years. They can include nothing more than 
commercial arithmetic and the elements of bookkeeping. Moreover, 
they are of little value for encouraging industrial activities, since 
boys who complete the regular secondary studies are destined for the 
university and the liberal professions. This type is exemplified in the 
high schools of Guatemala, Salvador, and Venezuela. 



102 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

The second type of commercial education in the high school is 
that in which it is made a parallel course equal in length with the 
others. This type is exemplified in the liceo rrwderno of Bogota, 
in which one section is distinctly commercial and the other is scien- 
tific. Colombia is one of the very few countries in Latin America 
that has retained the old classical high school with courses in Latin 
and Greek. But beside the classical liceo there has been created in 
recent years the modern liceo, and in this latter commercial studies 
have found their place as a separate section. The same system is ap- 
plied in Cuba, except that there is only one class of high schools, 
including all sections. The course of study covers five years. Haiti 
has an organization similar to that of Colombia. 

The third type is that in which all forms of secondary instruc- 
tion are united in one school and where the studies of the first years 
are common to all. The best example of this type in Latin America 
is the organization of Costa Rica. During four years the studies 
are the same for all. At the end of this time three sections are 
formed — literary, commercial, and normal. The first two sections 
continue their studies for two years and the normal section for three 
years. In the commercial course the study of the national language 
and of English and French is continued, and the following technical 
branches are introduced with two and three recitations each per 
week: Bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, and geography, indus- 
trial technology, commercial products, stenography and typewriting, 
political economy, and commercial law. 

Private commercial colleges. — In addition to the regular State 
schools of different grades, commercial education is promoted in pri- 
vate business colleges organized after the popular North American 
model and conducted as a gainful enterprise. In educational merit 
they naturally vary greatly. Some are recognized as possessing 
very considerable merit and receive subsidies from the Government 
or municipality. 

Church schools. — Still another class of commercial schools are 
those maintained by religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church 
and by the various Protestant societies. These schools recognize the 
popularity of the business course and are not slow to incorporate 
it into the organization of the school for the purpose of attract- 
ing patronage. The Salesian Brothers, who specialize in various 
forms of practical education, almost invariably include in their school 
a commercial section. Protestant institutions, which are to be found 
in almost all important centers, possess certain distinct advantages for 
this form of education, in that they are usually conducted by Eng- 
lish-speaking persons, and much of the instruction is given in this 
language. English is everywhere recognized as the most important 
language for business, and many pupils attend these schools in pref- 



COMMERCIAL EDUCATION. 103 

erence to others, because they offer exceptional advantages for ac- 
quiring English in an easy and practical manner. 

General status of commercial education. — In conclusion, it can be 
stated that the impulse toward commercial education in Latin Amer- 
ica is very marked. It is one more manifestation of the modern, 
practical spirit which is moving in these countries. Some forms of 
the instruction given are much more efficient than others. When 
injected into an already overcrowded and uniform secondary cur- 
riculum and confined to rudimentary courses it can accomplish little 
good, but where it is made a distinct type of education, whether in 
separate schools or in a separate section of the high school, it has its 
own educative and utilitarian value, besides tending to modernize 
methods of instruction throughout the entire institution. 



CHAPTER XII. 

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 

In the past two decades Latin America has shared with the rest 
of the world an intensified interest in scientific cultivation of the 
soil, and in agricultural education as a necessary antecedent to better 
agricultural conditions. There is scarcely a country in Latin America 
that has not its agricultural college, one or more experiment sta- 
tions, and other organized agencies for the dissemination of this 
branch of knowledge. The movement has resulted from two causes. 
First, the general advance in industrial life that has taken place at 
home; and second, the special interest in agricultural education that 
has developed in recent times in Europe and North America. Better 
industrial conditions in Latin America have improved the markets 
for agricultural products at home, and increased facilities for trans- 
portation by land and by sea have made Latin-American products 
a large factor in the world's markets. It became worth while, there- 
fore, to study agriculture with a view to improving the quality and 
increasing the production. The example of the great agricultural 
nations stimulated the movement. As stated elsewhere, the Latin 
American ardently desires for his country the best and most pro- 
gressive things of the world. He is quick to adopt a new idea, a 
new theory, or a new process. Modern agricultural education and 
experimentation have been accepted, therefore, in Latin America 
with the same fervor as elsewhere, notwithstanding the fact that 
conditions are less favorable for their practical application. Each 
South American nation, with the exception of Ecuador and Vene- 
zuela, has one or more agricultural college^ for advanced study in this 
science. Venezuela has recently employed a European specialist to 
study conditions in the country and advise the form of agricultural 
education best suited to her needs and capacity. 1 The smaller coun- 
tries of Central America content themselves with elementary forms 
of agricultural education in connection with the primary school, but 
Honduras has recently inaugurated a policy of extending the scope of 
its agricultural instruction and of fostering in an especial manner 
this form of education. Prior to 1907 Mexico had only a moribund 
college of agriculture. In that year the institution was reorganized, 

1 On April 15, 1912, a decree was promulgated establishing a college of agriculture and 
veterinary science in Venezuela. The location of the institution was to be decided by the 
National Congress. 
104 



AGKICULTUEAL EDUCATION. 105 

the curriculum changed, the plant improved, and practice joined 
with theory. The enrollment increased manyfold in a single year. 
The latest available statistics give 330 students in agriculture and 144 
in veterinary science. Santo Domingo and Haiti each has a secondary 
school of agriculture. In the latter country it is combined with an 
industrial school called Ecole des Sciences Appliquees. The insti- 
tution is a private foundation, but since 1905 has received an annual 
governmental subsidy. The course of study in agriculture extends 
over two years following a preparatory year in general scientific sub- 
jects. The school possesses a plot of ground for practical farming. 
Cuba has a regular agricultural college, which forms a department of 
the University of Habana. 

At different epochs during the nineteenth century, there were 
sporadic attempts in different countries of South America to estab- 
lish regular agricultural education. However, interest soon waned 
or conditions prevented the accomplishment of the enterprise, and 
it was not until late in the century that any permanent institutions 
were founded. The schools that exist at present represent two dis- 
tinct categories and will be considered separately. 

Agricultural colleges. — The higher schools can be designated as 
agricultural colleges, since they are on the same plane, as far as 
entrance requirements are concerned, as the professional schools of 
law, engineering, etc. Except in Argentina the agricultural college 
does not form a part of the university. Elsewhere it is an inde- 
pendent institution, and instead of being subject to the ministry of 
public instruction, it is responsible to the department of agriculture. 
Some institutions were of college rank from the date of their founda- 
tion, others represent a gradual evolution from a primary agricul- 
tural school (Escuela practica de agricultura). 

The oldest agricultural college of South America is the Instituto 
Agricola of Chile, founded in 1876, and located at Santiago. No 
other permanent foundation of college grade was effected until 1897, 
when the school at La Plata was established as an outgrowth of 
the practical school of Santa Catalina. In 1905 it was incorporated 
into the University of La Plata as a faculty. The State of Sao 
Paulo, in Brazil, established its college at Piracicaba in 1900. The 
college of Peru, at Lima, was definitively organized in 1901. Uru- 
guay added a faculty of agriculture to the university of Montevideo 
in 1906, but two years later made it a separate institution. The 
college of agriculture in Buenos Aires was organized in 1904, and 
incorporated into the university in 1909 as a faculty of agriculture and 
veterinary science. In 1910 Colombia authorized by law the estab- 
lishment of an agricultural and mechanical college in connection with 
the University of Cauca. The list, as now constituted, of national 
colleges of agriculture in South America was completed in 1911 



106 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

when Bolivia opened one at Cochabamba and Brazil began the 
organization of a national institute at Rio de Janeiro. In the latter 
case the technical courses in agriculture were removed from the 
engineering school and transferred to a new plant on the outskirts 
of the city, where practical application can be combined with theo- 
retical instruction. 

With the exception, therefore, of the institute of Chile, Latin- 
American colleges of agriculture are of very recent establishment. 
Since it was a new form of education, and in the main a direct im- 
portation from Europe and North America, few States possessed 
the personnel required for directing and teaching in such institu- 
tions. Often the first principals and professors were brought from 
Europe or the United States and many faculties still contain a large 
number of foreigners. Belgium especially, on account of the ex- 
cellent reputation of its agricultural schools, has furnished a large 
number of teachers. The faculty of an agricultural college in South 
America is more often than not a cosmopolitan club. It is not un- 
usual to find representatives from a half dozen different nationali- 
ties. In order to train a corps of native principals and professors, 
the States have granted liberal scholarships for study abroad in this 
line of specialization. Gradually the schools are filling up with 
native-born teachers. 

Expenditures for agricultural colleges. — The States have been 
lavish in their expenditures for agricultural education. The teach- 
ing staff, so largely recruited abroad, is of itself an expensive item. 
The buildings almost everywhere are good, built expressly for the 
purposes of the college, and furnished in a modern manner. In some 
the classrooms and principal laboratories are grouped in a single 
large structure; in others each department has its own pavilion. 
Some of the large buildings are palatial in appearance. The new 
central hall of the agricultural faculty of the University of La Plata 
is a handsome and commodious building, as it stands to-day, while 
a large addition yet remains unfinished. The school at Montevideo 
occupies a building completed only three years ago, which is a model 
of elegance in its appearance and is admirably arranged for class 
and laboratory work. The school at Piracicaba in Brazil is a Veri- 
table paradise, where the large central building with two long uncon- 
nected lateral structures faces a park comprising a hundred acres, 
filled with such a variety and luxuriance of trees, shrubs, and flowers 
as only a tropical landscape can produce. Likewise the school at 
Lima is beautifully located, with adequate buildings for the school 
work proper and four special laboratory pavilions for the use of 
the experimental staff. At Buenos Aires the school is located in the 
suburbs, on the level pampa in the midst of fertile fields. The build- 
ings are all pavilions, a half dozen in number, and each designed for 



AGEICTJLTUKAL EDUCATION. 107 

a special department, The Agricultural Institute of Chile has never 
had a building of its own, but it has enjoyed fairly adequate quarters 
in one wing of the Natural History Museum. Immediately in the 
rear is the. experiment station and near by is the Practical School 
of Agriculture. Plans have been perfected whereby the institute 
will have in the near future other and more commodious buildings. 

In the matter of equipment, the different States have exhibited 
great liberality. Nearly every school possesses a large farm well 
provided with buildings, machinery, and live stock. Laboratories 
are sufficient for the needs of instruction, and also of experimenta- 
tion when this function has been combined with the duties of 
instruction. 

A few figures may not be amiss to prove the solicitude shown 
everywhere for this form of education. The annual budget of the 
school at Lima is upward of $50,000, which is double the amount 
allotted in 1902; the buildings cost $150,000. The budget of the 
Bolivian school is $10,000; that of the Chilean institute, $20,000. 
This relatively small amount in the latter case is due to the fact that 
it includes the teaching staff only. The experimental station is a 
different organization, and so is the practical school of agriculture, 
although both institutions are located in the Quinta Normal with 
the agricultural college. In 1911 the University of Buenos Aires 
allotted to its faculty of agriculture and veterinary science the sum 
of $180,000. The faculty of the University of La Plata received an 
even greater sum, and, in addition, the Government appropriated 
$120,000 for new buildings. Uruguay spent in the years 1906-1908 
a quarter of a million in buildings and equipment for her agricul- 
tural college, and is now erecting a new plant for the school of vet- 
erinary science, which will cost a like sum. The State of Sao Paulo 
in Brazil appropriates annually more than $300,000 for the support 
of agricultural instruction and experimentation, and of this the 
college at Piracicaba receives from seventy-five to one hundred thou- 
sand. In the year that agricultural education in Mexico was reor- 
ganized, $125,000 was spent in buildings, repairs, and apparatus. 
The University of Habana has recently erected a handsome building 
for its department of agriculture. 

Dissimilarities in organization. — The organization of the agricul- 
tural college in its relation to the entire State educational system 
presents some variations. In Argentina it forms, together with the 
school of veterinary science^ a faculty of the university and offers two 
parallel courses, one in agriculture and one in veterinary science. 
The same organization was effected in Uruguay, but after two years 
the schools were separated from the university and each erected into 
a separate institution. In their new locations they are widely sep- 
arated from each other. In Bolivia both schools are united in the 



108 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

same organization, but have no organic connection with other depart- 
ments of higher education. A similar organization prevails in 
Mexico. In Brazil, Chile, and Peru practical courses in veterinary 
medicine are included in the agricultural college. 

In the matter of experimentation also there is dissimilarity. Some, 
by reason of their charters, are experiment stations at the same time 
that they are schools, and the two functions are carried on with the 
same equipment and by the same personnel; others are distinctly 
teaching schools in which experimentation is only incidental. Most 
States founded experiment stations before agricultural schools, and 
the experiment station frequently remains distinct from the college. 
It is usually administered by foreigners, contracted for abroad for 
this particular activity. 

Admission requirements. — The usual scholastic requirement for 
admission to the agricultural college is the certificate of having com- 
pleted the regular secondary education or an examination covering 
equivalent studies. Certain States grant scholarships of sufficient 
value to cover j^ractically all the expenses of the student. In such 
cases the examination is presumably competitive. In a few colleges 
the students, both State scholars and students who pay, room and 
board in the institution, but more usually the college is a day school 
only. Providing a college home and granting scholarships have come 
about because of the earnest desire of the States to encourage agri- 
cultural studies. 

■ Curriculum. — The course of study almost uniformly covers four 
years. Not infrequently the first year is a preparatory course, com- 
prising general scientific and mathematical studies, but without tech- 
nical branches. The curricula given below are typical and show the 
range of studies and the order in which they are presented. The 
regular curriculum of Piracicaba is preceded by a " preliminary 
course " of one year, embracing the following subjects : Portuguese, 
French, arithmetic, elementary algebra, geography, history of Brazil, 
geometry, shop and field work. This school divides its year into 
semesters, and the subject matter is more subdivided. The student 
carries fewer subjects at a time, concentrates his attention, and 
changes many classes each semester. In accordance with Brazilian 
law, military training is given throughout the four years. With this 
explanation, the insertion of the preliminary year in the table of 
studies is unnecessary. It will be observed that two schools combine 
with agriculture practical studies in veterinary science. The college 
of Montevideo is strictly agricultural, since the State maintains a 
separate college of veterinary medicine. The same division of studies 
is observed at La Plata, Buenos Aires, Mexico, and in the Bolivian 
college at Cochabamba. The great stock-raising countries very natur- 
ally give particular attention to veterinary science, while in the 
others it is subordinate to general agriculture. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



109 



Typical Curricula of Agricultural Colleges. 



Montevideo. 

Meteorology 

Chemistry 

Botany 

Anatomy and physiology 

Geology and mineralogy 

General zoology 

Mathematics and surveying 

Drawing 



Agriculture 

Zootechnics 

Rural economy 

Hygiene and prophylaxis 

Technology 

Mechanics 

Viticulture 



Agriculture 
Analytical chemistry 
Geology and related sciences 
Rural engineering 
Applied zoology 
Arboriculture 

Drawing and rural architec- 
ture 



Agricultural chemistry 
Microbiology and phytopa- 
thology 
Rural economy 
Zootechnics 
Agricultural mechanics 
Rural legislation 
Technology 



FIRST YEAR. 

Santiago de Chile. 

Physics 
Chemistry 
Agricultural botany 
Arithmetic and algebra 
Geology and mineralogy 
Agricultural zoology' 
Geometry and trigonometry 
Drawing 



SECOND YEAR. 

General agriculture 

Arboriculture and horticulture 

Agricultural entomology 

Plant physiology 

Animal anatomy 

Zootechnics 

Topography) 

Organic chemistry 

Agriculture 

Drawing 



THIRD YEAR. 

Agriculture 
Viticulture 
Plant pathology 
Rural legislation 
General zootechnics 
Political economy 
Agricultural technology 
Hydraulics and rural construc- 
tions 
Veterinary clinics 
Applied hygiene 



FOURTH YEAR. 

Zootechnics (special) 

Rural economy and statistics 

Mechanics 

Hydraulics and constructions 

Applied analytical chemistry 

Agricultural technology 

Forestry 



Piracicaoa. {Brazil). 

(First semester.) 

Elementary physics and me- 
chanics 

Algebra and geometry 

General chemistry and miner- 
alogy 

Botany 

Zoology (domestic animals) 

Animal anatomy and physiol- 
ogy 

Drawing 

Practical field work 

(Second semester.) 

Hydrostatics and hydrody- 
namics 
Geometry and trigonometry 
Organic chemistry 
Plant physiology 
Domestic animals 
Drawing and carpentry 
Practical field work 



(First semester.) 

Light, heat, and sound 
Analytical and agricultural 

chemistry 
Microbiology 
Agricultural geology and soil 

preparation 
Stock breeding 
Surveying 

(Second semester.) 

Electricity and climatology 

Analytical and agricultural 
chemistry 

Phytopathology and entomol- 
ogy 

Soil preparation and crops 

Zootechnics (special) 

Surveying 



(First 



Agricultural industries 

Farm machinery 

Stock feeding and poultry 

raising 
Horticulture and fruit raising 
Agricultural mechanics 
Political economy 

(Second semester.) 

Agricultural industries 

Forestry 

Rural economy 

Zootechnics (special and veter- 
inary) 

Practical horticulture 

Apiculture 

Rural constructions (roads, 
drains, etc.) 

Practical work on the farm 
and in creamery 



110 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

Two grades of titles. — Frequently the course of study is divided 
into two parts. On the completion of the first, which usually com- 
prises two or three years, the student receives the certificate of skilled 
agriculturist (agronomo perito). If he continues and completes 
the entire curriculum he becomes an agricultural engineer (ingeniero 
agronomo). Some schools do not grant the final degree until the 
candidate has spent at least one year in the practice of his profes- 
sion, during which time he prepares an original scientific paper in 
some special field of agricultural investigation. 

The agricultural career. — Many students, even among the State 
scholars, do not study with the intention of devoting themselves 
entirely to agriculture as a profession. As has been remarked in 
preceding paragraphs, scientific, practical studies are not the most 
highly esteemed. An agricultural graduate is easily diverted from 
the vocation of agriculture and is drawn off into political life or 
into governmental bureaucracy. This is all the more common, since 
the patronage of the agricultural college comes not so much from 
families of practical farmers as from the wealthy planters who give 
little personal attention to the management of their estates, but 
intrust them to a hired steward (major-domo). These families have 
long furnished the political leaders of the country, and it is but 
natural that the sons, no matter whether their studies have been 
in law, agriculture, engineering, or even medicine, should maintain 
the family tradition and drift into politics. This condition is, how- 
ever, slowly disappearing. The agricultural college is beginning to 
appeal to a class of young men who study with the firm intention 
of following the profession. When they do not possess an inde- 
pendent fortune permitting them to engage in agriculture on their 
own account, they seek employment on the large estates as managers, 
become teachers in the " practical agricultural schools," or investi- 
gators in the experiment stations. 

Primary agricultural schools. — Besides the agricultural college, 
which is a school of university rank, there exists in Latin America 
another type of agricultural instruction of a lower grade called the 
escuela praotica de agricultura. In some countries it was the first 
type of agricultural instruction introduced and preceded the col- 
lege; in others it was established at the same time and placed along- 
side the higher institution. In many ways the two schools mark the 
sharp distinctions that exist in the Latin- American social structure. 
The college is for the sons of gentlemen whose social position calls 
for a university education, which may be taken in an agricultural 
college, providing it is of university grade. The practical school, 
on the other hand, is for the sons of the less fortunate, and is a school 
of a lower grade both scholastically and socially. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



SULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 31 




A. AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL, PIRACICABA, BRAZIL. 




GENERAL BITTENCOURT INSTITUTE, PARA, BRAZIL. 



3UREAU OF EDUCATION 



iULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 32 




A. GAME OF SOCCER AT THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, PIRACICABA, BRAZIL. 




B. BOTANICAL LABORATORY IN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, PIRACICABA, BRAZIL. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 33 




A. FACADE OF THE RECITATION HALL OF THE INDIAN SCHOOL AT LA PAZ. 




A GROUP OF PUPILS OF THE SAME SCHOOL. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 34 




A. AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL, SAYAGO, URUGUAY. 




. SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES, LIMA, PERU. 



AGBICULTURAL EDUCATION. Ill 

Number of schools. — The practical schools are not limited in 
number as are the agricultural colleges. In those countries that 
have made or are making the greatest strides in agriculture they 
are very numerous. Chile has seven; Argentina, three special and 
nine general schools, with six others in process of organization. In 
addition many Provinces in Argentina maintain their own local 
schools. In the Brazilian Federation at least seven States have one 
or more each; the State of Sao Paulo has no less than four. Many 
States maintain also model farms. The Federal Government grants 
a subsidy to every State or municipality that maintains an experi- 
ment or zootechnic station. In the reorganization of its agricultural 
education in 1907 Mexico adopted the policy of founding many 
regional schools of practical agriculture. Cuba has undertaken to 
maintain a school farm (granja escuela) in each of her six Provinces. 
Peru has a practical school in connection with the agricultural col- 
lege at Lima, and three others in the Provinces. 

The advantage of this type of agricultural instruction is beyond all 
question, and many of the schools are doing a very valuable work. 
There is, however, a tendency in some countries to increase the num- 
ber beyond reasonable bounds and to establish them faster than they 
can be properly equipped. As can be readily imagined, political rea- 
sons are often the cause. It is a school for the sons of " the people, '-' 
and each representative wants one for his district. 

Physical equipment.- — The plant and equipment of the practical 
school is simple and modest, as indeed it should be. Nowhere is there 
the magnificence, the palatial buildings, and abundance of scientific 
apparatus so often noticeable in the agricultural college. The farm 
is of varying size, but always ample. Only the staple crops of the 
region in which the school is located are cultivated. Some schools 
may almost be said to devote themselves to a single specialty, such as 
viticulture, grains, horticulture, or stock raising, and forage products. 
The buildings consist of the necessary farm structures, a principal's 
home, and a central edifice containing the offices, classrooms, dormi- 
tories, dining hall, and culinary department; for it is a boarding 
school in which the great majority of the pupils are State scholars, 
selected from the different administrative districts of the territory 
which the institution serves. The boys are sons of the managers and 
overseers of the large estates or of the smaller farmers. The last- 
named class is much the smaller, since unfortunately the small land- 
owner, cultivating his farm with his own hands, is the exception 
in most parts of Latin America. Large estates supervised by over- 
seers are the rule. The furniture and equipment of the classroom, 
dormitories, and culinary department are always simple, sometimes 
even crude. A part of the products of garden and farm is used in the 
65993°— 13 8 



112 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 



school; the rest is sold. When the management is good a consider- 
able part of the expenses of the institution, including the pension 
of the students and resident teachers, can be met by the products of 
the farm. 

Course of study. — The curriculum is simple and is designed to be 
especially practical. It comprises two or three years. Sometimes a 
preparatory year is prefixed; in other schools a deficient pupil is 
required to repeat the first year. Nothing is required for admission 
beyond elementary instruction, which is usually interpreted to mean 
only reading, writing, and the elements of arithmetic. In some 
schools which are not in themselves special a pupil may remain a 
year after finishing the regular course in order to perfect himself in 
some .specialty. During this year his work is wholly practical. The 
two curricula here reproduced — Santa Catilina in Argentina and 
Santiago de Chile — represent the highest type of the practical school 
of agriculture. The former is a dependency of the University of 
La Plata and is not far from Buenos Aires. Smaller provincial 
schools would show lower entrance requirements and less advanced 
studies in the last year. In the Chilean curriculum the hours of 
theoretic instruction only are indicated, but the time devoted to prac- 
tical field work can be estimated as much the same as in the Argentine 
school. The term of the Chilean institution comprises three and one- 
half years; the last semester, which is not reproduced here, is for 
the most part a continuation of the technical studies begun in the 
third year, with the addition of zootechnics and further studies in 
practical veterinary science. 

Curricula of Practical Schools of Agriculture. 

FIRST YtiAR. 



Sunlit Catalina. 



Santiago de Chile. 



Hours i>er week. 

Applied arithmetic and geometry 3 

Elements of natural sciences 4 

Elements of physics— 2 

Spanish... 2 

Drawing.. 2 

Laboratory and T'eld work... 27 



Hours per week. 

Mathematics _ __ 3 

Spanish— __ _ 3 

Gymnastic exercises— _ 2 

Religion— _ 1 

Elements of physics 1 

Commercial arithmetic.— ._ 2 

Drawing— 3 

Foreign language.. 3 

Zootechnics... 4 

Practical veterinary science— _. 3 



iCOND YEAR. 



Agriculture. 3 

Elements of chemistry.. . 2 

Elements of practical zootechnics- 3 

Orchard and garden products 2 

Arboriculture^ — 3 

Aviculture apiculture, and sericulture 2 

Drawing.. __ __ 2 

Laboratory and held work 27 



Mathematics _ 3 

Spanish— 3 

Gymnastic exercises 2 

Religion— 1 

Elements of hygiene— 1 

Chem istry 2 

Accounts 2 

Drawing . 1 

Foreign language... 3 

Climatology— 2 

Arboriculture and horticulture — 3 

Practical agriculture 2 



AGKICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



113 



Agriculture 


THIRD 

... 2 


YEAB. 
Mathematics.. 


... 2 
... 2 


Rural constructions and machines 

Accounts and rural economy 

Elements of practical veterinary science-. 


7~~ 2 

2 

". 2 


Gymnastic exercises; 

Religion 

Accounts 

Nivellization and rural constructions 

Drawing 


... 2 
... 1 

... 2 
... 2 


Drawing- 


... 2 

... 27 


... 1 
... 3 












... 3 






... 3 




Agricultural machines-, 


... 3 



Other types. — The provincial agricultural institutes in both Argen- 
tina and Chile, as well as those in other countries, are much more 
elementary in character than those whose curricula have been given. 
In Argentina, where there are two types of primary agricultural edu- 
cation, the general and the special, the elementary and practical char- 
acter of the former is especially marked. Theoretical instruction is 
limited to six hours per week. The rest of the student's time is spent 
in work in field and garden. The special schools, on the other hand, 
give considerable time to class and laboratory work. They are three 
in number — Cordoba, for agriculture and stock raising; Mendoza, for 
viticulture; and Tucuman, with two distinct specialties, arboriculture 
and the sugar industry. Each of these institutions has a three-year 
course in addition to a preparatory year, and the curriculum includes 
such general scientific studies as physics, chemistry, botany, geology, 
bacteriology, plant pathology, etc., besides courses in drawing, 
mathematics, and French. Entrance requirements are also greater 
than in the other class of schools and presuppose the entire ele- 
mentary school curriculum. In fact, these special schools are but a 
reduced model of the agricultural college, with all the practical and 
much of the theoretical work directed toward a single specialization. 

Indian schools. — In those countries in which the native Indian race 
still forms a very considerable portion of the population, the practi- 
cal agricultural school assumes a different organization, in which 
agricultural training is only an incident — important, it is true, but 
after all, only an incident — in the general plan of instruction. The 
Indian is notably conservative. He clings conscientiously to the 
customs of his ancestors. He not only spurns the intellectual civili- 
zation of the white race, but he prefers his own traditional methods 
of agriculture and industry. In the few countries in which he has 
remained dominant he cultivates the soil with the same crude imple- 
ments and according to the same primitive methods that were in 
vogue at the time of the conquest. He has adopted no new indus- 
tries, and what renders his assimilation still more difficult is the fact 
that he often retains his native dialect, and learns and uses Spanish 
only when circumstances actually force him to make this concession. 



114 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

In recent years a heroic effort has been made in States like Bolivia 
and Guatemala to penetrate this crust of Indian conservatism and to 
bring the native population into touch with modern civilization by 
the establishment of special Indian schools, called Escuelas de Indi- 
genas. The object of these institutions is threefold — to teach the 
national language, to create a class of artisans, and to inculate 
modern methods of agriculture, with the idea that the pupils will 
become in their native villages schoolmasters and missionaries of 
modern civilization. 

The studies of the school correspond to the triple purpose of the 
institution. Primary subjects are taught more for the purpose of 
teaching Spanish than for the subjects themselves. Great emphasis 
is laid on manual training and elementary agriculture. The cur- 
riculum extends over three or four years. The pupils are State 
scholars and live in the school. This enforced separation from their 
families and Indian life, together with the constant association with 
the white man's civilization, is a necessary part of the system. By 
these means it is hoped to teach him the language and to convince 
him that there are more efficient methods of agriculture and industry 
than those in vogue in his native village. 

An agricultural normal school. — Another form of systematic prac- 
tical instruction in agriculture is the new type of normal school 
evolved in Argentina for the training of teachers for the rural schools. 
This school has already been described in detail in the chapter on 
normal education, and is mentioned here only for the sake of com-, 
pleteness and to emphasize its importance as an agency for the dis- 
semination of scientific agricultural knowledge. The introduction 
of elementary agriculture into the rural school program is favored 
everywhere. The usefulness of the study depends almost entirely on 
the character of the instruction, and requires of the rural teacher a 
very different preparation from what he has hitherto received. The 
special normal school, founded by the Province of Parana, is becom- 
ing a model for other provinces of Argentina, and is a distinct ad- 
vance in general agricultural education, as it prepares teachers who 
can make the elementary agricultural program of the rural school a 
vital part of the system and not a mere incident, 



CHAPTER XIII. 
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 

Interest in industrial education has increased steadily in Latin 
America during the past thirty or forty years. In the higher forms 
this has been evidenced by the change, in name or in fact, of the 
Facultad de ciencias exactas into the school of engineering; in the 
lower forms by the establishment and constant improvement of State- 
supported trade schools. If their success has not been uniform, 
it is not due to lack of governmental encouragement,, but rather to 
the peculiar and often unpropitious conditions with which they had 
to contend. In both faculties and lower schools the first directors 
and professors were very commonly foreigners. As it was a new 
type of instruction, it was felt that local talent was neither sufficiently 
expert nor properly cognizant of the aims and methods of this class 
of schools, and Europe was called upon for skilled men to introduce 
and develop the purely technical branches of the new education. The 
foreigner always labors at a disadvantage. The language is at first 
a serious handicap, but much more serious is his ignorance of local 
conditions, habits of thought, hereditary prejudice, and public senti- 
ment. In this particular instance he was at the additional disad- 
vantage of being called to organize and further a type of studies 
generally regarded as menial by those who laid claim to social or 
intellectual distinction. In many cases, too, the time was not ripe for 
the introduction of the industrial school. 

Progress in industrial education. — Hampered as it was by tradi- 
tional prejudices in education and by an insufficient demand for its 
product, industrial education in Latin America has prospered very 
unequally. In those countries where industrial progress has been 
most marked the industrial schools, high and low, have come into 
public favor and have taken high rank. 

In the University of Buenos Aires the engineering school enrolls 
annually eight or nine hundred students, and in numbers is now third 
in the university faculties. The engineering schools of Santiago, 
Montevideo, Lima, and Sao Paulo show a proportionate increase in 
students and a growing prominence as compared with the other pro- 
fessional faculties. 1 

*For detailed information concerning engineering schools, their courses of study, 
equipment, etc., the reader is referred to Chapter VIII, where they are considered as a 
part of the university system. 

115 



116 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

Elementary industrial schools. — This chapter is primarily con- 
cerned with the lower forms of industrial education. Such insti- 
tutions are to be found not only in the capitals and larger cities, but 
in many smaller towns as well. Particularly is this true of the more 
industrial nations, and if perchance the State or local government 
has not established the school, the field is often occupied by the teach- 
ing orders, especially by the Salesian Brothers, who make a specialty 
of agricultural, industrial, commercial, and the more practical types 
of education. The State industrial school for boys is most commonly 
designated as La escuela de artes y oficios; and the type of organiza- 
tion varies but little, except that in some countries it is in whole or in 
part a boarding school, in others a day school only. Instruction 
everywhere is practically free. Even the materials used in the work- 
shops are furnished by the Government, which, however, is reim- 
bursed, in part at least, for this outlay from the sale of manufactured 
articles. In addition, the State offers a certain number of scholarships 
to poor boys. In the boarding schools these are given in the form of 
board and lodging in the school itself. Almost everywhere the in- 
dustrial school is well equipped in the matter of buildings. The very 
nature of the institution, with its laboratory instruction, necessitates 
special buildings; and while primary, secondary, or even higher 
schools may be lodged in remodeled houses, La escuela de artes y 
oficios usually has the honor and advantage of possessing its own 
building, designed especially for its peculiar needs and uses. 

In some places the industrial school was originally established as 
a penal institution for boys — a reform school ; but this type has now 
disappeared. The industrial feature may be continued in penal 
institutions, but the escuela de artes y oficios is simply a school and 
nothing more. 

In grade it corresponds to the upper classes of the primary school. 
Pupils are expected to be able to read, write, and perform the simple 
operations of arithmetic before being admitted, but as industrial- 
training is the principal feature of the school boys are frequently 
received who are deficient in the common branches and special classes 
are formed for them. Instruction in nontechnical studies is given 
throughout the entire course and includes the mother tongue, geog- 
raphy, local history, and arithmetic. A prominent subject is draw- 
ing, both free-hand and mechanical, but this becomes almost technical 
on account of its immediate application to the trades. The length 
of the course of study varies but slightly in different countries, the 
extremes being three and five years. One-half the day is devoted 
to the primary academic studies mentioned above and the other half 
to work in the shop. 

Training for the trades. — Notwithstanding the time given to 
academic branches, La escuela de artes y oficios is in its organiza- 



INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 117 

tion and purpose a trades school and not a manual training school. 
Shopwork is not arranged to afford a comprehensive view of the 
manual arts or to give a general training. It is specialized from 
the very first, and the pupil is assigned immediately to the acqui- 
sition of a certain trade. Later he may pass to another shop and 
acquire an allied trade. " The number and class of handicrafts varj^ 
according to the importance of the school and the character of local 
industries. All schools teach carpentry, tailoring, shoemaking, 
blacksmithing, and furniture making; the more pretentious may 
include engraving, electrical construction, machinery, and industrial 
chemistry. A great many teach printing and bookbinding, and some 
of these shops are in reality Government printing offices from which 
are issued a considerable part of the State publications. The fur- 
niture shop is also utilized for the manufacture of school desks and 
office equipment for other State institutions. 

Equipment. — The shops are usually well supplied with machinery 
and tools ; in some the equipment exceeds even the needs of the insti- 
tution. Organically the shops are the central feature of the indus- 
trial school and shop practice the chief business of the pupils. Some 
industrial schools, however, have deviated from their original purpose 
and have assumed the character of engineering schools or elementary 
academies of fine arts,' although the pupils, on account of their 
meager preparation, were not well fitted for such studies. 

Students. — The patronage of the escuela de artes y oflcios comes 
entirely from the artisan classes of society. The strong social distinc- 
tions that exist everywhere in Latin America separate sharply manual 
from other vocations, and in those countries where modern industrial- 
ism has made the least inroads the skilled mechanic enjoys little, if 
any, social advantage over the common workman. This condition 
of affairs explains the fact that many pupils discontinue their trades, 
and, taking advantage of the academic instruction received- in the 
schools, adopt some other occupation, preferring humble clerical posts 
to more lucrative positions in the trades. This is a condition that will 
disappear in time, and it has already partially disappeared from 
those districts where industrial activities have become prominent. 

The school at Santiago de Chile. — The central industrial school of 
Chile, located at the capital, and the chain of Federal institutions in 
the larger cities of Argentina are of a distinctly higher type. The 
school of Santiago bears the same common name, but its equipment 
and instruction are much superior to those of the ordinary escuela de 
artes y oflcios. It comprises under one management two separate 
divisions — the day school and the boarding school ; the former of two 
years, the latter of three and four. The two institutions have sep- 
arate classrooms and are entirely segregated. Only the shops are 
common to both divisions, but even here the pupils never meet, since 



118 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

one section uses the shops in the forenoon and the other in the after- 
noon. The character of the divisions is quite different. The day 
pupils are distinctly trades pupils. They come from artisan families, 
and their object is solely to learn more or less thoroughly a single 
trade. They very rarely complete the entire course, but leave the 
school as soon as they can profitably enter upon their vocation. This 
section corresponds closely to the ordinary industrial school as 
described in preceding paragraphs. 

The other section constitutes the real school, an institution higher 
in rank than the escuela de artes y oficios, and lower than the engi- 
neering school. It might be termed a practical school of engineering 
of the second grade. The pupils are State scholars, drawn from all 
Provinces in proportion to the population, and selected through a 
modified form of competitive examination. They must have com- 
pleted the full course of elementary instruction, or its equivalent, and 
their preparation at entrance is therefore much in advance of that of 
pupils in the day section or of those in the provinicial industrial 
schools. During their residence they are under strict, almost 
military, discipline, and their energies and attention are directed 
steadily to the work of the school. In fact, they are civilian soldiers 
preparing for posts of responsibility in the national railways and 
other State-controlled industries. While great numbers of the grad- 
uates are absorbed by governmental activities, they are free to enter 
private industries. The only obligation assumed at the time of 
accepting the State scholarship is to continue their studies through- 
out the entire course of three and four years. If for any reason they 
do not, the State must be reimbursed by the student or his bonds- 
man. The division of the course into three and four years is effected 
in a unique and interesting fashion. During the first year the 
studies and shopwork are the same for all pupils. At the end of 
this period the most apt are put into a section that continues its 
studies for three years more, of which the last is devoted to real 
engineering subjects of an elementary and essentially practical 
nature. The less proficient pupils are restricted to a shorter course 
which excludes technical studies and prepares especially for certain 
trades. Both sections, however, pass through the wood and iron 
working shops, and thus secure a more general manual training than 
that offered in the strictly trade school. 

Curriculum. — The academic studies of the first year are elementary, 
comprising commercial arithmetic, Spanish, penmanship, and draw- 
ing. The four-year course continues as follows: Second year, ele- 
mentary algebra and geometry, drawing, hygiene, and English ; third 
year, descriptive geometry, mechanics and graphical statics, machine 
design, elements of industrial physics, chemistry, and English; 



INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION". 119 

fourth year, mechanics and graphical statics, machine construction, 
machine design, elements of resistance of materials, and English. 

Shop practice in the first year is in wood; in the second, forging 
and foundry ; in the third and fourth, mechanical and electrical. 

The three-year students pursue practically the same academic 
studies, with the exception of those of the fourth year English and 
mechanics, and their shopwork does not include mechanics. 

Pupils in the day section spend seven hours daily in the school, 
four in elementary academic studies and three in the shops. They 
have the opportunity of learning any one of a half dozen mechanical 
trades. 

History. — The institution at Santiago has had a long and honor- 
able history, and to it is due in no small measure the industrial prog- 
ress of Chile. It was established in 1849 and began with 24 pupils. 
At present there are 300 State scholars in the three and four year 
courses and 100 in the two-year day-school course. The buildings 
are valued at $175,000 and the shop equipment at $75,000. In dif- 
ferent local and international expositions the school has received 22 
medals and 36 diplomas of merit. Besides the usual wood and 
iron working shops, it maintains others for boiler making, bronze 
work, electricity, and mechanics. 

Industrial education in Argentina. — Argentina has planned to 
found and equip high-grade industrial schools in all the great 
centers. Already five such schools have been established — one each 
in the following cities: Buenos Aires, Eosario, Santa Fe, La Plata, 
and Salta. The institutions all bear the name of Escuela Industrial 
de la Nacion, indicating that they are creations of the Federal Gov- 
ernment and independent of the Province in which they may be 
located. As a result of their national character they are of uniform 
grade, although they may specialize in the industries most important 
to the locality. Entrance requirements, the academic branches of 
the curricula, and the length of term are uniform. Several parallel 
courses of study are offered, the number varying with the size and 
resources of the school. The institution at the capital offers four — 
general mechanics, electricity, industrial chemistry, and general 
industry. Below is given the curriculum and distribution of hours 
for each of the six years of the course in general mechanics. The 
other courses are of equal length and contain an equal amount of 
practical work. 



120 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 



Curriculum of indust 


ial schools of Argentina. 










Hours per week. 


Subjects of instruction. 


First 
year. 


Second 
year. 


Third 
year. 


Fourth 
year. 


Fifth 
year. 


Sixth 
year. 




4 
3 

3 
6 


3 






















4 
3 

3 
6 
3 






















4 
6 
4 










4 
6 
4 








6 












6 
3 


6 






















3 
4 
3 










3 












2 
3 




















4 




:::::::; 






1 












3 









2 












? 








3 


1 












9 












3 

4 


1 
























3 



















12 


12 


11 


10 


8 


8 








Total 


36 


36 


36 


36 


42 


41 







The studies in all courses are practically uniform during the first 
three years, and not only is this true of the academic portion of the 
curriculum but also of the practical exercises. Regular progressive 
shopwork in wood and iron precedes specialization. This policy de- 
termines the character of the institution and makes it, like the Chilean 
school at Santiago, a type of practical engineering college. In fact, a 
graduate of the school may enter the second year of a faculty of 
engineering. In the smaller schools, that can not oifer as many 
specialties, the uniform course may extend over as many as four years. 
The foreign language elected is usually French, on account of its 
ease for a pupil whose mother tongue is Spanish and on account of 
the greater proficiency that can be acquired in a given time. 

Tuition fees and scholarships. — Instruction is not entirely gratu- 
itous, but the fees are so small as to be merely nominal. It is an 
educational policy in Argentina to impose a trifling tuition charge in 
all schools, even in the primary, where attendance is compulsory. It 
is argued that the amount is so small that it never constitutes a hard- 
ship, but that, small as it is, it makes both pupil and parent feel a 
greater interest in the school. Even a small contribution creates a 
sense of ownership, a desire to promote the prosperity of the institu- 
tion, and a determination to profit by the outlay. 

Another national educational policy in Argentina forbids a board- 
ing department in State schools of any grade. The industrial schools 
are therefore day schools only, and there are no national scholarships. 



BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



5ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 35 




A. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, ROSARIO, ARGENTINA. 




-B. NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. 



JUREAU OF EDUCATION 



SULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 36 




A. SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS FOR GIRLS, LA SERENA, CHILE. 







IRON FOUNDRY, SCHOOL OF ARTS AND TRADES, SANTIAGO, CHILE. 



INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 121 

However, the Province in which the school is located sometimes grants 
to boys who live in other towns scholarships sufficient to cover actual 
living expenses. 

Buildings and equipment. — While the curricula, entrance require- 
ments, and policy of all the federal industrial schools are uniform, 
in material equipment they are at present very unequal. The school 
of Rosario occupies modest and totally inadequate buildings, orig- 
inally constructed for other purposes. Congress has, however, voted 
funds for the erection of new and specially designed buildings, and 
in a year or two the present unfavorable conditions will be eliminated. 
In the matter of equipment also the smaller schools- suffer in com- 
X^arison with the institution at the capital, and this is but a corollary 
to the inadequacy of buildings. Machinery and laboratories can not 
be installed when floor space is wanting, and the lack of proper build- 
ings is an excuse for not providing funds for improvement of the 
shops. However, the smaller schools are steadily increasing their 
facilities and improving their work. The general policy of the fed- 
eral schools is to be really practical in their training, and this policy 
is the more vigorously adhered to since the large central institution 
ai the capital sets a standard of efficiency and methods to which all 
the others aspire. This prevents the more poorly equipped from 
lapsing into mere theoretical instruction. Good use is made of the 
facilities and equipment they possess, and, as the basic shopwork for 
all pupils is the same, better general training can be effected with 
meager facilities than if specialization came earlier. 

The school cut Buenos Aires. — In marked contrast to the limited 
facilities of the. smaller schools are the magnificent quarters and 
thorough equipment of the great institution at the capital. Covering 
an entire block, three, stories in front containing offices, classrooms, 
laboratories, and library, and one story in the rear occupied by the 
shops, the building r " splendid tribute to the spirit of modern 
industrialism which is pervading Argentina of to-day. Class- 
rooms, laboratories, and shops are well equipped. Nearly all the 
furniture in the building was made in the shops, and much of the 
machinery was likewise constructed in the school. 

Six hundred and sixty-five students were matriculated in 1911. 
The high standard required and the ease with which pupils with a 
modicum of industrial training can find ready employment in local 
industries tend to deplete the upper classes. Five-sixths of the entire 
enrollment is found in the first three years. Discipline both in class 
and shop is rigid. The laissez faire method of university life is not 
imitated here. Eegular attendance is insisted upon. Written monthly 
examinations are given on all subjects, and these count equally with 
the final oral examination toward determining the student's annual 
classification. A certain unusual rule of administration is not with- 



122 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

out merit: A student who fails one year is not debarred from re- 
enrollment, but must pay double fees. 

The desire of the Government to encourage industrial education is 
proved by the liberal appropriations. In 1911 the five schools re- 
ceived $400,000, of which half went to the school of Buenos Aires. 

Industrial schools for women. — Industrial education for women is 
also widespread in Latin America. Besides the regular industrial 
schools, instruction in household arts is given in all good normal 
schools for girls, although in many, for lack of appliances, there are 
no practical courses in cooking. This feature of the normal school 
can not, however, be termed industrial education in the strictest sense, 
since it is designed solely for reproduction on a reduced scale in the 
primary grades. However, it is a powerful influence for the popu- 
larization of the importance of practical things in the life of women 
and for ennobling manual labor is general. 

All the southern nations of South America, and some in the north 
and in Central America, have established special schools for the 
industrial education of girls. The Argentine Federal Government 
maintains no less than five in the national capital and five more in 
the Provinces. Some Provinces maintain schools of their own. In 
Chile 28 schools have been organized, besides the normal industrial 
institute at Santiago, which is at the head of the system and supplies 
teachers for the technical branches. The Chilean Government ex- 
pends annually $200,000 on its industrial schools for girls. This form 
of education appeals also to private benefactions and to religious 
societies. In many States schools have been founded and are main- 
tained by these agencies with the help of subsidies from the Govern- 
ment. The large number of industrial schools for girls, State and 
private, in many countries indicates that a decided social revolution 
is in progress in Latin America. The sphere of woman is no longer 
limited to her own household or to domestic service, which was for so 
long her traditional place in Latin civilization. In many countries 
of Latin America she has entered business and industrial occupations, 
not to the same extent, it is true, as in the United States, but in 
recent years the movement has been greatly accelerated. 

Different types. — The industrial school for girls is known in differ- 
ent countries by different names, as Escuela profesional de ninas, or 
de mujeres; Escuela de artes femeniles; Escuela praetica de ninas. 
The difference is not wholly one of name. There are two somewhat 
different types of institutions, and the same type in different coun- 
tries is not always designated by the same name. In one the trades 
feature is especially emphasized; in the other a complete, rounded 
training in household arts is the aim. The one is a professional 
school for women; the other a girls' manual training school. The 
distinctive aims of the two types are not incompatible, although the 
spirit of the institutions may be quite different. Both offer oppor- 



INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 123 

tunity for learning the most common trades, and both likewise afford 
a general training in household arts. 

In the trades school the pupil enters at once upon the study of 
any one particular line of work which she may choose and for which 
she is prepared. Often she studies two allied trades. There is no 
fixed length of curriculum. When the student has mastered a trade 
she receives a certificate of competency. This may be won in a single 
year if the student is intelligent, quick to learn, and confines herself 
to a single subject. As it is more usual, however, to combine two 
allied trades, two and even three years may be necessary to win the 
certificate. The trades commonly taught are dressmaking, millinery, 
and tailoring. Practical cooking is offered wherever the State can 
be induced to furnish the necessary facilities. 

The girls' manual training school, on the other hand, has a fixed 
curriculum covering usually three years, and the diploma is granted 
only to those pupils who complete the entire course. In other 
respects the two types of schools have much in common. The 
entrance requirements, as in the corresponding school for boys, 
include only the rudiments of a primary education. A minimum 
age of 14 years is another requirement. Primary studies are con- 
tinued. Much attention is given to drawing and to composition in 
the mother tongue. The best schools always require that a design 
of the work be made before the task is undertaken, and that a full and 
careful written description of the process be prepared after its 
completion. A careful estimate is required of materials used and 
their cost, so that practical arithmetic is interwoven with handwork. 

A very common adjunct to the industrial school for girls is a short 
commercial course, comprising commercial arithmetic, elements of 
bookkeeping, and typewriting. 

Patronage of industrial schools. — Industrial schools are to be found 
only in the cities and larger towns where the industrial population 
is the greatest, but it would be a mistake to assume that all girls 
enter, or even study to enter, industrial pursuits ; many study simply 
to become proficient in household arts. One problem of industrial 
education in Latin America is to induce girls of the poorest families 
to avail themselves of the opportunities offered. Most schools in- 
clude in their curriculum personal and household hygiene which, 
with domestic economy as taught in connection with practical work 
in household arts, would be of incalculable value in the homes of the 
very poor. However, the great majority of matriculants come from 
families of artisans and small shopkeepers. 

A unique institution. — An institution at Santiago which is directly 
connected with the departments of manual training and domestic 
science in the State system of education in Chile deserves special 
notice, not only because of the important functions it performs but 
also because it is unique in South America. Its official designation — 



124 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

Escuela de Education Fisica — conveys only an imperfect notion of 
its manifold activities. In reality it is four schools in one, contain- 
ing the following departments: Physical culture, domestic science, 
manual training, and stenography. Instruction is also given in 
pedagogy and drawing, the latter for application in manual training 
and the former because the primary purpose of the institution is to 
prepare teachers in the various special branches for service in the 
State industrial, normal, and high schools. 

The equipment of the institution is remarkably good in all depart- 
ments : Koomy shops for wood and iron work, well- furnished kitchens 
with complete culinary apparatus, a large number of typewriters, 
splendid gymnasium with sufficient apparatus, and a complete set of 
instruments for physical measurements. The building is of recent 
construction and thoroughly adapted to the needs of instruction. 

The institution was founded in 1906, and has been well patronized 
from its very inception. The average enrollment during the first 
year was 220. In 1911 it was 239, of whom 77 were men and 162 
women. The school is almost of university grade. Matriculants 
must either have completed five years of the secondary school pro- 
gram or have graduated from a normal school. 

A considerable number of students are teachers in the provincial 
schools who are granted leave of absence that they may take short, 
practical courses in their specialty. Vacation courses are also given 
for the same purpose. The utility of the institution to the State 
system of schools is unquestioned, and it is preparing an excellent 
corps of special teachers in domestic science, physical culture, and 
manual training. The policy of the school is intensive study and 
much practical application. The full course of study in each depart- 
ment extends over only two years with 14 and 15 hours per week. 
During the last year there is given a course in methods with practice 
lessons in order to prepare the student for teaching the particular 
subject. 

Another unique type. — Rio de Janeiro possesses a school of arts 
and crafts which differs materially from the accepted type. It is not 
a State institution, but its public utility is recognized by the Govern- 
ment and it receives an annual subsidy. The association that main- 
tains the school bears the name of La Sociedade Propagadora das 
Bellas Artes, and this fact in itself gives a hint as to the character 
of the institution. The school is known as the Lyceo de Artes e 
Oficios, but its province is not to teach the trades themselves, but 
rather to make workmen intelligent and efficient in general, and more 
skillful and artistic in their work. The school maintains no shops 
in the ordinary sense of the term, but its curriculum contains useful 
groups of studies for more than 50 callings and trades. A work- 
man is expected to learn his trade through an apprenticeship outside 



INDUSTKIAL EDUCATION. 125 

the school. The latter merely aids by furnishing him the scientific 
knowledge and arousing artistic feeling. The curriculum com- 
prises courses in applied sciences and in art. The former include 
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, applied physics, chem- 
istry, and mechanics; the artistic courses comprise drawing in all its 
forms, arithmetic; sculpture, painting, and engraving. Through a 
wise selection of subjects related to his particular vocation a work- 
man can prepare himself to pursue his calling with intelligence, and 
in those vocations that admit the element of beauty, with artistic 
touch and appreciation. On the trades the influence of the school is 
supplementary only, not basic, except in so far as scientific knowledge 
is basic for all vocations. For architecture and the fine arts, the 
institution offers a complete education both scientific and practical. 
Classes for men are taught during the day and in the evening, but 
for women only during the day. The annual enrollment is large 
and indicates the popular character of the institution. During the 
year 1911 the matriculants numbered 2,487, of whom 1,987 were men 
and 500 women. This was an increase of 450 over the enrollment of 
the preceding year. 

The society that maintains the school is unusually interesting in its 
history, organization, and methods, and is a fine example of what 
can be done in education by non-State and non-sectarian institutions 
in Latin America. It was founded toward the middle of the nine- 
teenth century. Its present constitution recognizes eight classes of 
members. Ever since its organization the titular head has been the 
chief executive of the nation, and during all its history membership 
has been counted a signal honor. The great and wealthy have con- 
sidered it a privilege to contribute to its support. Regular members 
pay an initiation fee and small monthly dues. These moneys, together 
with gifts, endowments, and the State subsidy, constitute the revenue 
of the society. The teaching staff is chosen from the membership. 
No salaries are paid the instructors, but they are exempt from the 
payment of dues, and through length and regularity of service rise 
to the position of honorary membership. In its origin the society 
clearly recognized the principle of cooperation in education ; children 
of members paid no tuition, but the same privilege was later ex- 
tended to other matriculants, so that now instruction is gratuitous 
for all. 

The constitution of the society is not «i model that could be gener- 
ally copied. Local conditions and a certain social prestige acquired 
at its very foundation have no doubt contributed to its success, but 
the principle of private secular initiative which it embodies con- 
stitutes a pleasing variation in the general uniformity of State or 
religious organization of higher and special education in Latin 
America. 



PART III. GENERAL EDUCATIONAL TOPICS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
COEDUCATION. 

Tradition in Latin America was at one time wholly opposed to the 
coeducation of the sexes ; indeed, it was very generally hostile to any 
education for girls, except the very imperfect type given in the old 
convents. The past half century, however, has produced remarkable 
changes in public opinion in this regard, and school customs of to- 
day, even in the most conservative countries, bear little resemblance 
to those of two generations ago. In the first place, the secular educa- 
tion of girls is everywhere recognized as a duty of the State, equally 
with that of boys. Nor is their schooling confined to the elemen- 
tary grades; secondary education also, in some form, is provided 
for girls. 

While it is universally admitted that the State's duty is to pro- 
vide instruction for all the youth of the nation, without distinction 
of sex, the organization of schools in reference to the sexes and pub- 
lic sentiment in regard to coeducation are far from uniform. In 
general practice each sex has its own school, but the exceptions to the 
rule are very numerous and are often found where least expected. 

In elementary schools the practice differs as between town and 
country. In the larger centers the sexes are usually grouped in sepa- 
rate schools from the very first, or, at least, after the primary grade. 
In towns the number of pupils and teachers permit segregation with- 
out any serious economic loss. In the hamlets, however, there are not 
always sufficient children to form two full parallel classes in all 
grades. Moreover, the village and rural schools are usually of an 
elementary character, comprising perhaps only three or four grades. 
They are, in fact, but primary schools, and the tender age of the 
pupils does not antagonize the general sentiment against coeducation. 
Besides, the economic and material difficulties of maintaining two 
parallel schools with a small enrollment would be insurmountable. 
Some States, however, forbid the enrollment in mixed classes of 
boys beyond a designated age, which varies from 10 to 12. 
120 



COEDUCATION. 



127 



Some statistics will indicate the variance in custom that exists in 
different countries in regard to coeducation in public primary schools. 
The figures in the table are taken from the latest available reports, 
but are not all for the same year. Notwithstanding this disadvan- 
tage, they represent accurately the proportion of the various types in 
any one country and the wide divergence between different countries. 



Coeducation. 



Schools 

for 
boys. 



Schools 
for 
girls. 



Number 
coeduca- 
tional. 



Ecuador 

Salvador 

Guatemala 

Costa Rica 

Uruguay- 

Mexico (Federal and State schools) 

Mexico (local schools) 

Chile (urban) 

Chile (rural) 

Argentina 

Buenos Aires (city). . 

Buenos Aires (Province) 

Province of Entre Rios, Argentina. 
Province of Santa Fe, Argentina—. 



1,062 
759 



1,573 
341 
318 



1,197 
486 

1,258 
337 



Even in the countries where the proportion of mixed schools is 
the largest coeducation is practiced chiefly in the country and vil- 
lages. This is clearly shown in the statistics from Chile, where the 
schools are classified as urban or rural. Coeducation has acquired 
greater favor in Argentina than in any other nation, but even there 
the difference in custom between city and country is still marked, 
and in order to show this divergence figures are given separately 
for the capital alone and for several Provinces. The proportion 
also varies as between Provinces. In the Province of Santa Fe there 
is one city of two or three hundred thousand inhabitants and another 
of thirty or forty thousand. In this Province the proportion of 
mixed schools is far below the average. In the Province of Entre 
Rios there is only one large town, and, besides, the sentiment in favor 
of coeducation is very marked even in the town itself. The detailed 
statistics given below for Uruguay portray very accurately the pre- 
vailing custom throughout Latin America. The table shows the 
division of schools into rural, first class (3 or 4 grades), second class 
(4 or 5 grades), and third class (a complete elementary school). It 
also shows separately Montevideo (including city and Province) and 
the entire Republic. Argentina, Costa Rica, and some States of 
Mexico are the only parts of Latin America that would give statistics 
more favorable for coeducation in public elementary schools. 
65993°— 13 9 



128 



LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 
Coeducation in TJruguay. 





Schools 

for 
boys. 


Schools 
for 
girls. 


Mixed 
schools. 


Total. 


Montevideo. 






29 
16 
20 


29 








16 




18 
1 


1 

1 


39 














19 


2 


65 


86 






Uruguay (entire) . 


5 
3 
69 

2 


5 

2 
43 
2 


554 
71 
37 


564 




76 




149 




4 










79 


52 


662 


793 







In regular secondary instruction there is no coeducation, except in 
rare instances. The State maintains one set of liceos for boys and 
another for girls, although the course of study is practically the same 
in both. Economic reasons may, however, bring about a change in 
the policy. Already there are some signs of innovation. A few high 
schools in Argentina admit both sexes, and in Costa Rica girls who 
have completed the curriculum of the girls' high school, which is not 
so extensive as that of the boys', may continue their studies in the 
liceo. In some other places the same building is used for both sexes, 
but they are organized with different classes, and even the hours may 
be different, one sex in the forenoon, another in the afternoon. 

In the universities. — The State universities are open to women, and 
in this grade of education the old traditions and prejudices against 
coeducation have broken down almost everywhere. It is true that 
women do not enroll in the schools of law and engineering, but they 
are at liberty to do so if they choose. In other faculties, however, 
they are present, even in the most conservative countries, and in many 
universities their number is very considerable. Wherever the faculty 
of letters has been retained there will be found some women matric- 
ulants, and where this faculty has become, either in name or in fact, 
a higher normal school the number of women students has increased 
from year to year, until now they constitute a decisive majority of 
the entire enrollment. This is the situation at present at Santiago, 
Buenos Aires, and La Plata, and so natural does it appear that it 
has ceased to cause comment. It is, however, in the medical faculty 
and in the related schools of pharmacy and dentistry that the pres- 
ence of women is most marked. The actual number in this depart- 
ment exceeds that in the faculty of letters, but the proportion is not 
so great, since there is a much larger enrollment of men. The history 
of the admission of women into the university has been much the 



COEDUCATION. 129 

same in Spanish America as elsewhere. It was first a special privi- 
lege. The complete secularization of the universities prevented any 
discrimination ; the institution was legally open to all. The number 
of women gradually increased. Their presence was at first a curi- 
osity, but in time became a. matter of indifference, and later an ac- 
cepted fact. In its every phase the movement was prompted by 
economic motives only. There was no woman question involved. It 
was not from a desire to share men's education that the women came 
to the university. Certain vocations were opened to them through 
social and economic evolution, and they resorted to the university, 
since it was the only institution that afforded the opportunities of 
sufficient preparation. 

Results. — It does not appear that the men students exhibited pro- 
nounced animosity to the enrollment of women in any of the uni- 
versity departments, nor does the presence of the latter seem to have 
given rise to special problems, either academic or social. The com- 
mon report is that the young women have comported themselves with 
dignity and maintained the most natural relations of comradeship 
with their classmates. The same is true in the few institutions of 
secondary education where coeducation exists. After the first year 
of the experiment in the upper grades of the national high school of 
Costa Eica, the principal reported that the presence of the young 
women, instead of injecting new problems into the discipline of the 
school, had exercised a decidedly good effect. 

An economic movement.— The large number of women students in 
certain departments of the universities is astonishing, considering 
the long tradition and pronounced prejudice against coeducation in 
general in Latin countries and the comparative rarity of the practice 
in higher elementary schools even to-day in Latin America. It 
should be noticed that the movement is, in one respect, quite different 
from that in North America. In the United States it is in the col- 
lege of liberal arts that the enrollment of women has grown prodi- 
giously during the last generation. The motive on the part of the 
majority is a desire for a higher general education without reference 
to its application to any particular vocation. In Latin America, on 
the other hand, it is the vocational departments that women have 
invaded. They study to be teachers, physicians, pharmacists, or 
dentists. If they were seeking a general literary education, they 
would enroll in the faculty of social and political sciences, which 
offers more cultural studies than any other department of the uni- 
versity, but this is precisely where none are found. Their presence 
in such large numbers in the faculty of letters and philosophy in 
Santiago, Buenos Aires, and in the corresponding department of 
La Plata is because they can there prepare for teaching. In this 



130 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

case, as in the others, it is professional, not general, education that 
they seek. 

In industrial schools. — The industrial schools are nowhere coedu- 
cational. The only exception is the Escuela de Educacion Fiscia of 
Santiago, and this is explained by the fact that it is practically 
a normal school, preparing teachers for physical culture, manual 
training, and household arts for the various secondary, normal, and 
industrial schools of the nation. Even here the class and laboratory 
instruction is, in the very nature of the studies, separate for the two 
sexes. 

In commercial schools. — Curiously enough, in commercial educa- 
tion, where one might expect more frequent instances of coeduca- 
tion, it is not found except in Brazil, where organized, public 
commercial instruction has been less developed than in most countries. 
The school in Sao Paulo and one in Bio de Janeiro admit both sexes, 
and the latter has a relatively large enrollment of women. An- 
other exception is the commercial section of the high school of San 
Jose, in Costa Rica ; but the reason for the introduction of coeduca- 
tion there was purely economic. The city is not large enough to war- 
rant separate schools, with the additional expense of installation and 
equipment. 

Coeducation in normal schools. — In normal education, except in 
the higher normal schools, as mentioned above, the sexes are usually 
educated and trained in separate institutions. Since normal schools 
are most often State boarding schools, coeducation is less feasible 
than in other institutions. Even in countries where the normal is a 
day school only, the general custom is to provide separate institu- 
tions for the sexes. However, the school of Rio de Janeiro is coedu- 
cational, and the Sao Paulo normal school has an evening course 
for young men. The single normal school as } r et established in 
Bolivia, and located in the ancient and conservative city of Sucre, 
is also coeducational. 

In Argentina the normal schools of the capital and larger provin- 
cial cities are for one sex only. Of the more than GO normal schools 
supported by the Argentina National Government, 2-i are for women 
and 34 for both sexes. There is no doubt that the coeducational 
normal schools in the Provinces are thoroughly successful, and in the 
towns in which they are located public sentiment is decidedly in their 
favor. Their establishment was due partly to reasons of public 
economy and partly to the preponderating influence of North Ameri- 
cans in this branch of public instruction at the time of its introduc- 
tion. But notwithstanding its original impetus and its continued 
success where tried, the policy of coeducation in Argentina normal 
schools does not seem to have gained force. The two types will 



COEDUCATION. 131 

doubtless continue in much the same relative number as at present. 
The capital and larger cities are not likely to be soon won over to 
the coeducational normal school, especially when segregation is the 
rule in other forms of secondary instruction. However, the pres- 
ence of young women in the universities and in the higher normal 
school of Buenos Aires may in time affect the general sentiment on 
this subject even in the large centers. At all events the coeduca- 
tional normal schools in the Provinces have promoted the practice 
of coeducation in elementary schools — a practice much more common 
in Argentina than in other Latin-American countries. 



CHAPTER XV. 
ANCIENT LANGUAGES. 

In general it may be stated that the study of ancient languages in 
Spanish America has been eliminated. The few exceptions, which 
will be considered later, do no more than emphasize the rule. At 
first thought it is a subject of wonder that nations whose common 
speech is descended in direct and unmixed line from the Latin, the 
great learned language of Europe during so many centuries, should 
have relinquished this together with the remote classic tongues of 
antiquity. One would suppose that racial pride, to say nothing of 
philological reasons, would have constrained the Neo-Latins of the 
New World to retain the subject very generally, and even to foster it 
more jealously than is done by Anglo-Saxon and Germanic nations. 
School tradition, too, should have aided the cause of Latin, to say 
nothing of Greek. Custom is almost as dominating in the school as 
in law and religion, and Iberian tradition was and continues to be 
strong in favor of the retention of the ancient classical languages. 
But notwithstanding reasons of kinship of speech, pride of race, and 
scholastic tradition, Latin, as well as Greek, has almost wholly dis- 
appeared from the curricula of South and Central American educa- 
tional institutions. 

One reason for the elimination of Latin is neither hard to find nor 
difficult to state. It is the antagonism, either open or latent, which 
exists almost everywhere between state and church. So self-explana- 
tory is this reason that every intelligent Latin-American, when asked 
why Latin has been discarded in the schools, immediately and un- 
hesitatingly offers this obvious explanation. Others there are, but 
this one is so patent that it is apparent to all. 

Up to the time of their independence, Latin- American countries 
relied entirely on the church for the establishment and maintenance 
of schools. The local priest had oversight of the primary school, if 
there was one. Religious orders maintained institutions of secondary 
grade, and the colonial universities all owed their foundation to the 
church. In the struggle for independence, the clergy very generally 
favored the colonies, for it was not Spain the Catholic against which 
they first rebelled, but against Spain, the subject of Napoleon, the 
man who had despoiled the church and virtually imprisoned the 
Pope. The formation of the independent republics did not at first 
132 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES. 133 

change the status of education. During the first decades of the new 
era the religious orders continued in charge of the schools, high and 
low, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. The State willingly 
granted subsidies for their improvement and extension. But during 
the latter half of the nineteenth century conditions changed. The 
idea of secular education, which should be free to all and required of 
all developed in Latin America, as it had slowly developed in Latin 
Europe. Education by the state, for the state, without reference 
to the ecclesiastical organization or to specific religious instruction, 
was abhorrent to the tenets of the church, and it resisted to the full 
extent of its power, but in America, as in Europe, the state triumphed. 
Public secular primary schools were first established, then high 
schools, and the universities also were in time wholly secularized. 
This struggle long continued alienated and embittered the two 
powers, and the doctrine of complete separation of church and state 
gained added force. It is a bit fantastic that the animosity should 
be reflected in school curricula, but such proved to be the outcome. 
Since the state had undertaken public instruction, it must perforce 
make its schools popular. The church schools had remained classical 
and conservative. The state, in contrast, made its schools scientific 
and practical. Latin was the central, all-pervading feature of eccle- 
siastical education. In order to discredit this education, the study 
of Latin was decried. Latin was the official language of the church ; 
to teach it in the secular school was almost like teaching an ecclesi- 
astical subject. Again, if Latin were recognized as an important 
study, the state educator could not compete with the clerical, since 
the best Latinists were the clergy themselves and the members of the 
religious teaching orders, and to admit them into the secular teaching 
corps and to give Latin its pristine position in the role of education 
would be but to transform the new secular system into the old 
ecclesiastical school. 

The outcome of the struggle was the entire elimination of Latin 
from State-supported and subsidized schools, and when it was no 
longer required, or even " credited," for the baccalaureate — a State- 
conferred degree — it naturally disappeared from the private schools 
as well. Latin is not included in the curricula of secondary schools, 
much less in primary, in any of the following countries: Argentina, 
Bolivia, Chile, Costa Eica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, 
Mexico, Nicaragua^ Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, and Uru- 
guay. Haiti and Colombia maintain two classes of secondary 
schools, the classical and the modern. In his last report the minister 
of public instruction of Colombia, although agreeing to the reten- 
tion of the classical school, urges the further development of the 
modern. Some Venezuelan high schools offer courses in Latin, but 
the studies are elementary, embracing only the rudiments of the 



134 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

grammar and simple translation. In some countries it is positively 
forbidden by law to teach the subject in schools. Exception is always 
made of the seminarios for the education of priests. The disappear- 
ance of the classic language was not always effected without a con- 
test. Aside from the clerical influence many educators trained under 
the old system recognized the value of the subject in any scheme 
of education and fought valiantly for its retention. Some States 
wavered in their policy; under one regime it was abolished; under 
another, restored; only to be cast, out again when its opponents 
returned to power. Argentina fluctuated many years in her policy ; 
Uruguay but recently discarded the subject. 

In the universities there may be, and usually are, courses of lec- 
tures on the history of classic literatures, but these are given in the 
mother tongue and do not presuppose the reading of these literatures 
in the original by the students. In the Instituto Pedagogico of 
Chile, which, as stated above, is the only section of the faculty of 
letters yet organized, an elementary course of three years in Latin 
is required of those preparing to teach Spanish and French; but 
even here Latin is not taught for the sake of Latin, but as a suitable 
background for the scientific study of Spanish or French grammar. 
The same arrangement obtains in the faculty of philosophy in the 
University of Buenos Aires, which is also in fact, although not in 
name, a higher normal school. Elementary courses in Greek are also 
offered in the University of Buenos Aires. 

In many institutions educators recognize the very great value oi 
Latin in any extended study of Spanish, especially for future teach- 
ers of the mother tongue, and some attempt to evade the school reg- 
ulation by introducing a short course in " linguistics," which in 
practice becomes a study of word formation and the morphology of 
Latin. But these studies are only primary ; even those in the higher 
normal schools are exceedingly elementary and confined to small 
groups of students, so that the opening statement of this chapter 
that instruction in Latin had generally disappeared in Spanish 
America remains nevertheless true. 

A reason other than the clerical has militated against Latin — a 
reason interwoven to a certain extent with the question of church 
and more difficult both of appreciation and expression, but none the 
less potent. The Spanish American has great admiration for and 
faith in the efficacy of all things modern. When he has applied to 
any object or idea the epithet of moderno he has expressed the high- 
est possible appreciation. The latest ideas in philosophy, in sociology, 
in education find nowhere more ready and earnest disciples than in 
South America. This trait of character, joined with his confidence 
in the power of education to reform undesirable conditions and to 
advance the material and social status of the nations, makes him 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES. 135 

seek earnestly the most advanced theories. To him Latin was an an- 
tique, like the fine old massive furniture of his colonial ancestors 
which he is prone to discard in favor of the lighter and newer styles. 
Western Europe was developing certain types of education in which 
the classics were replaced by scientific studies. The Spanish- Amer- 
ican argues that the school must regenerate the nation, advance civil- 
ization, develop the material resources of the country, and bring it 
into touch with its most progressive neighbors. In order to per- 
form this mission, it must use the most effective means. In this 
utilitarian theory Latin could not compete with sciences and modern 
languages, and it was forced to the wall. 

The Portuguese branch of Latin America presents a notable excep- 
tion in its treatment of the classics. In the Brazilian secondary school 
curriculum, linguistic and humanistic subjects are prominent, and 
both Latin and Greek find a place. There is no election in the course 
and no alternate line of study; all pupils conform to the same cur- 
riculum and study the classics regardless of their inclination or pur- 
pose in life. To be sure the course is not extensive, only five hours 
per week of Latin and three of Greek in the last two years, but it 
must not be forgotten that a pupil to whom Portuguese is the mother 
tongue is capable of acquiring a considerable facility in Latin in a 
relatively short time. This course of study is not confined to the few 
principal city high schools of Brazil, but is found also in the smaller 
towns, since the law prior to 1911 set a standard and required all 
colegios to conform to the model of the large school at Rio de Janeiro 
in order to confer the degree of bacharel. No provision is made for 
advanced study of the classics outside the theological seminaries since, 
as noted in the chapter treating of universities, there exists in Brazil 
no faculties of philosophy and letters. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



MODERN LANGUAGES. 



In Latin-American schools a very large and honorable place is 
accorded to the study of modern foreign languages. In Guatemala 
and Mexico such study is even introduced into the elementary grades. 
Fortunately this practice is exceptional. It is in the secondary and 
special schools that modern languages receive an attention that in 
comparison with North American practices seems excessive. 

In secondary education. — In the regular secondary school {liceo or 
colegio) two languages are always taught, running usually through 
three or four years. Often a third is introduced in the last years. 
The following table conveys at a glance the languages offered in 
secondary schools in certain representative countries and the time 
given to each. The curriculum is uniform for all pupils, no election 
being permitted. 

Modem languages in secondary schools. 



Countries. 


Languages. 


Number 

of 

years. 


Average 

hours per 

week. 






3 

4 
2 
6 
6 
4 
4 
2 
4 
5 
4 

4 






English 










Chile 




2 
























3 




French and English 


5 










3 






3 






2 









In tlie university. — In the university proper no practical linguistic 
instruction is offered save in the teachers' colleges. The few facul- 
ties of letters that subsist may give lecture courses on the history 
and appreciation of modern literatures, but no lessons in the lan- 
guages themselves. In the professional schools, however, especially 
in medicine and engineering, many of the texts used are in French 
or English. On account of the ease with which a Neo-Latin can 
read French, that language is preferred, and in medicine, pharmacy, 
mathematics, and general science the texts are almost wholly in 
French. The libraries in medical, scientific, and even in law schools 
136 



MODERN LANGUAGES. 137 

contain more works in French than in all other languages combined. 
The utility of American and English treatises on subjects of practical 
engineering is everywhere recognized, and while many are used for 
reference few are adopted as texts. German is little studied, except 
in parts of Chile and in the German colonies of Brazil. German 
scholarship is appreciated, but only a small minority can profit by it 
at first-hand, and texts in German could very rarely be used. The 
very general use of French texts in the professional schools is a 
practical continuation of that language in the university. The same 
is true of English, but to an extent much less. 

In normal schools. — The important position of modern languages 
in the regular secondary schools of Latin America is not so surpris- 
ing when one remembers that Latin and Greek have been practically 
eliminated. Their prominence, however, in special schools is equally 
marked and is in direct contrast with North American practices. 
Foreign languages find no place in the ordinary American industrial 
or normal school. Even in commercial high schools they are not em- 
phasized and are often taught in an impractical manner. In similar 
schools in Latin America these studies occupy a post of honor. In 
Chile the primary normal schools require one foreign language 
throughout the entire course of five years ; in Argentina, one for three 
years, and in the supplementary course for preparing teachers of the 
normal school itself a second foreign tongue for two years; in Costa 
Eica, one for five years, another for four; in Brazil, three years of 
French, but in addition two or three years are required for entrance ; 
in Guatemala, four years each of two languages; in Panama, Eng- 
lish five years, French four years ; in Salvador, two years each of two 
languages. In other countries the amount of time given to this sub- 
ject in proportion to the entire normal course is much the same. 

In other schools. — The industrial schools of Argentina require two 
years of a foreign language. In the Escuela de Artes y Oficios of 
Santiago de Chile English is required throughout three years. The 
same is true of the school at Lima. In the industrial school of 
Bogota both French and English are studied, but for a year only. 
. At Mexico City the national industrial school, in a three-year course, 
requires either French or English during two years. Even some 
of the elementary schools of agriculture {Las escuelas practical de 
agricultiora) include in their curriculum a class in French. 

In commercial schools. — In commercial schools the central studies 
are foreign languages, English, French, and German, whose im- 
portance is in the order named. In some few localities, as a result of 
local conditions, Italian is also taught. It matters not whether the 
institution be a distinct separate commercial school or simply a busi- 
ness section in the high school, the emphasis laid on the practical ac- 
quisition of foreign tongues is all-important. For example, in the 



138. LATIN-AMEEICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

commercial section in the Costa Rican national high school English 
is carried throughout the entire course of five years, with an average 
of more than four hours per week, and French four years, with an 
average of three hours per week. In the Business College of Sao 
Paulo, English and French are required in three years of the four, 
and in the higher supplementary course of two years elementary 
courses are given in German. Italian, and Spanish. In the regular 
course of the higher Argentina commercial schools, six hours per 
week throughout the entire course of five years are devoted to foreign 
language study, English, French, and either Italian or German. In 
the commercial schools of Chile English is required for four years 
to the extent of six hours per week, and either French or German 
for three years with four recitations per week. 

As can be observed from the data given in the preceding para- 
graphs, the two most widely studied foreign languages in Latin 
America are French and English. In the south, French is given by 
far the greater prominence, while in the countries that surround the 
Caribbean Sea English is predominant. In commercial studies Eng- 
lish is everywhere recognized as the more valuable. German and 
Italian have been introduced only in localities where immigration 
from those countries has been considerable, and their presence is due 
more to political than to other motives. 

Reasons for foreign-language study. — The reasons for the unusual 
importance given to modern foreign-language study are many and 
varied. One is the tradition in favor of so-called cultural studies, a 
tradition strong and steadfast in Latin countries. Linguistic studies 
are humanistic. They appeal strongly to the Latin mind. Language 
and literature, together with history, philosophy, and logic, were the 
central features of the old education which was brought from Europe 
by the first settlers, and they have retained their privileged position 
largely through the force of tradition. The classics disappeared from 
causes largely extraneous to educational philosophy, and it was but 
natural that the modern tongues should fill the breach. French owes 
its preeminent place in part to the fact that it is a sister language and 
easy to acquire. It was also the universal cultured speech at the 
epoch when the Spanish colonies broke away from the mother coun- 
try, and Latin America has ever since considered France the leader 
in Europe, not only in literature and art but also in philosophy and 
social sciences, and in the battle for civil and religious freedom. 
English has come with increased commercial relations, and more 
especially in the countries around the Caribbean on account of their 
proximity to English America. 

Another reason for the emphasis put upon foreign language in the 
schools is entirely utilitarian. It is the desire of Latin America to 
eet into closer contact with the world and to give to its children the 



MODERN LANGUAGES. 139 

advantages that are enjoyed b}^ the most progressive nations. Spain 
is not regarded by her former colonies as a great world power, or the 
Spanish language as one of the great world speeches. French and 
English enjoy that distinction, the former on account of its past 
history and the present prominent place occupied by France in let- 
ters, arts, progressive thought, and European politics; the latter 
because of its wide diffusion, and the ever-increasing importance of 
Anglo-Saxon industry and commerce. German does not commend 
itself so strongly because it lacks the historic element of French 
and the diffusion of English. The Latin American feels that the 
world's great store of knowledge is embedded in languages other than 
his own. 

In order to become modem, to increase his material prosperity, to 
give to his America the importance in the world that its extent of 
territory and its material resources warrant, he must perforce ac- 
quire the languages of progressive peoples and learn through them 
the secrets of progress and prosperity. Whether it be in medicine, in 
engineering, in pedagogy, in industry, or in the more abstruse sci- 
ences of sociology, politics, or theology, he does not feel that he has 
the most accepted theory or the most exact knowledge unless it bears 
the trade-mark of a foreign idiom. Secondary-school programs are 
therefore crowded with modern languages in order that the student 
may use foreign texts in his professional studies, or even in the high 
school itself. The primary normal schools include the study of at 
least one foreign tongue, in order that the teacher may have access 
to foreign pedagogical treatises and periodicals, and thus know the 
latest and best educational methods of the progressive nations; in 
the commercial school unusual emphasis is laid on the acquisition 
of foreign tongues, not only for the mere sake of intercourse in busi- 
ness relations, but also from the conviction that the knowledge of 
these tongues will bring increased commercial ability; even the 
student in the practical industrial and agricultural Institutes is 
thought to be hampered unless he knows the language of at least 
one nation that has made noted progress in the arts, manufactures, 
and agrarian pursuits. 

Method of instruction. — The manner of teaching foreign languages 
in Latin America and the extent of the instruction are worthy of 
remark. The direct method is universally employed, although varia- 
tions in its application are numerous. The teacher can always 
speak the language with more or less fluency and exactness, and class- 
room instruction is given principally in the language studied. Prac- 
tically all work is done in class in these subjects, as in fact in many 
others. Since the recitation schedule contains a large number of 
hours, as is the practice in Europe, little private study is done by 
the pupil, and what little he does is not new work but merely a 



140 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

review and development of the theme presented in class. In the 
earlier lessons in foreign language, objects, mural charts, and pic- 
tures are much used, and many schools possess an admirable equip- 
ment of this sort of apparatus. Formal grammar is not neglected; 
but in conformity with the philosophy of the direct method is pre- 
sented in an inductive manner. Much repetition is used. The exer- 
cises are kept for a long time in the simplest forms, and reading 
texts are of the most elementary character. The study is more than 
practical; it is entirely utilitarian. Literature is not taught either 
systematically or incidentally except in the universities. The three, 
four, five, or even six years that may be devoted to a language in 
the secondary or special schools are spent exclusively upon the lan- 
guage itself. What little reading is done is done not as literature 
but as a linguistic study. The result is that the average student has 
a good practical command of foreign languages. He has missed, 
however, a rare opportunity for cultural study through a wide read- 
ing of the literatures, and this could be attained without sacrificing 
the practical aim. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
SCHOOL TEXTS. 

Reference has already been made to this subject in connection with 
foreign languages, but only in so far as it applied to higher and 
special education. The topic presents, however, in Latin America 
other phases that deserve consideration. It is not only in advanced 
studies that the want of good texts is felt. The elementary schools 
also in some countries are very inadequately provided with these 
common means of instruction, and even the most progressive nations 
will admit that there is much room for improvement. A good text 
is a decided aid — nay, more — an incentive to good method, and, on 
the other hand : methods are commonly reflected in the texts. 

Animosity to texts. — When Spanish America began her aggressive 
campaign in favor of education, the texts commonly in use were 
antiquated. Moreover, the old pedagogy encouraged the mnemonic 
habit. Children did little more than memorize the text and repeat 
the contents in parrot fashion. In the revulsion against this unpeda- 
gogic method, texts were largely abolished. Oral teaching cams 
into vogue. The teacher developed the theme and dictated. The 
pupil listened and took notes or rather copied verbatim the dictation. 
Such a method was employed not only in the grades, but in the high, 
normal, and special schools. The lecture method has always been 
customary in professional schools. The abolition of texts did not 
overcome the habit of mnemonic recitation, which was the fault of 
the teaching and not of the text. The pupil simply reproduced the 
dictated words instead of the printed words. In time the use of text- 
books was in a measure restored, but a certain distrust of them per- 
sisted and their quality was not always what might be desired. At 
present conditions vary enormously. The difficulty of the problem is 
not appreciated at first glance. It is not simply a question of peda- 
gogy or school management. Political, geographical, and historical 
considerations are involved in the problem. Spanish America is not 
one unit. On the contrary, it is broken up into 20 different units, 
widely separated as regards distance and more widely still as regards 
intercommunication. Difference of climate and local conditions are 
also important elements. National rivalries and animosities are 
other causes of isolation. To a great extent, and certainly to a 
greater extent than is imagined in North America, each State has led 

141 



142 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

a separate existence. All have been separated from the mother 
country on account of their remoteness, lack of communication, and 
want of mutual sympathy. All have been aided in their material 
advancement by foreign capital and energy, but in those intellectual 
matters that concern the mother tongue each nation has been forced 
to march alone. All this has constituted a serious handicap in the 
matter of school texts. 

If the entire Spanish-speaking world with its seventy-five millions 
of inhabitants formed an intellectual unit, it would provide a public 
that would appeal to talent and to the publishing industries. If even 
the Spanish-American countries, with their more than fifty millions, 
formed such a unit the incentive would be all powerful. The prep- 
aration of texts is a prosaic affair, and both author and publisher 
look to the pecuniary profits that are likely to accrue. A small public 
means, under the very best conditions, a small circulation and an 
increased cost of publication. The former deters the author and 
publisher, and the latter is a disadvantage to the public. Even the 
largest of the Spanish-American Republics contains a relatively 
small population, and as education is not nearly universal in any the 
circulation of a primary school text, even in the most favored coun- 
tries, is necessarily limited. Texts for secondary, normal, industrial, 
and professional schools suffer still more restricted circulation, since 
the numbers decrease as the grade of instruction rises. Little wonder, 
then, that foreign texts play such an important role in higher 
education, and are even found in the secondary schools. 

A needed reform,. — Another method, however, would be an easier, 
more logical, more rapid, and more patriotic solution of the difficulty, 
viz, an intellectual union, not official, but based entirely on intel- 
lectual sympathy, between the various Spanish-speaking communi- 
ties. Such a movement will come sooner or later. Already there are 
signs of its advent. Recent years have witnessed a decided rapproche- 
ment between Spain and the Spanish Republics. The intellectual life 
of the two branches of the Spanish family has everything to gain in 
this tendency, and the schools would be among the first to profit. 
The softening of national asperities in Spanish America, the advance 
in means of rapid intercommunication, and the remarkable enthusi- 
asm in favor of education, now so noticeable in almost all nations, 
will undoubtedly bring about a community of interest in intellectual 
matters. International scientific and pedagogical congresses are signs 
of a new era. The Pan-American association of university students, 
now in its fourth year, is another indication of the same tendency. 
Government commissions and self-constituted delegations of teachers 
are visiting and studying the schools of adjoining countries. State 
scholarships are granted by some nations for study in other States 



SCHOOL TEXTS. 143 

that enjoy a reputation for more modern school facilities and methods. 
As the schoolmen of Spanish America come to know each other 
better and learn what is being accomplished in sister Eepublics an 
edition of a textbook will not be confined to a single country, as is 
the case at present, and the demand for secondary and university 
texts will be so extended that publishers will either call for original 
works or encourage the translation into Spanish of the best foreign 
texts. Undoubtedly there are two serious obstacles to an early con- 
summation of this program: First, the bitter hostility existing be- 
tween some countries on account of acute boundary disputes ; second, 
the fact that the most progressive nations in matters of general edu- 
cation are at the two extremities of the long stretch of Spanish- 
speaking territory that extends from the islands and the Rio Grande 
on the north to Cape Horn. However, several boundary disputes as 
threatening as any that remain have been settled amicably in recent 
years; more accurate geographical knowledge will make some others 
easier of solution; and the nations are learning that the surest ag- 
grandizement will come through internal development and the uni- 
versal education of their population. Intercommunication will 
become more frequent as it becomes more rapid, and it will be easier 
for the leading States to exercise a beneficent influence over a wider 
territory. 

65993°— 13 10 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
STUDENT SOCIETIES. 

There is nothing in the Latin- American university resembling the 
Greek-letter societies. Student life is thoroughly democratic, like 
student life in European universities. There are, however, one or 
more societies in every institution. Usually there is one in each 
faculty, and the membership is limited to students of this one depart- 
ment. This was the first form of student association. Later came 
the federation of the departmental societies into a University Union 
(Federacion Universitaria, or Associacion General de Estudiantes). 
If there is more than one university center in a country, this organi- 
zation may in its turn be federated with others, thus forming a 
broader union that comprises all the student associations of the 
nation. To complete the series, there was organized a few years 
since the American Student League (Liga de Estudiantes Ameri- 
canos), which is international and is intended to embrace all uni- 
versity unions of all the Americas. In addition to its services in 
educational matters this supreme international federation promises 
to become an effective agency in the promotion of international peace 
and amity. 

To return to the local societies which form the groundwork of 
the system, it is interesting to trace the development of their ideals. 
The original motive for organization within each department was 
very often the desire to present a united opposition to the faculty 
in case professors proposed regulations that seemed to the students 
onerous. Student strikes have not been infrequent in some institu- 
tions, and to insure their success a permanent student union was 
almost a necessity. But the movement was destined to develop nobler 
aims. The society soon became a semiprofessional association. The 
law society interested itself in legal questions, or the conditions of 
the practice of law; the medical society in questions of public hy- 
giene, etc. This brought the societies into cooperation with the 
respective faculties, instead of fostering an attitude of opposition. 
Professors were invited to address the society, or a public meeting 
organized by the society on questions of general interest. 

Other aims were developed to enlist the activities of the societies, 
such as reduction of cost of student supplies, improvement in the 
material conditions of student life, better lodging and food, and 
144 



ULLETIN, 1912, NO. 30 PLATE 37 




A. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' CONFERENCE, LIMA, PERU. VIEW OF THE 
CONFERENCE IN SESSION. 




INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' CONFERENCE. RECEPTION AT THE UNIVERSITY 
OF SAN MARCOS. 



STUDENT SOCIETIES. 145 

conveniences for social fellowship. The university authorities 
granted the departmental societies rooms in the building, which be- 
came student headquarters and in which formal meetings were held. 
In some universities the societies have developed altruistic tenden- 
cies and are trying to be of real service to the community. The most 
common manifestation of this policy is the organization of series of 
public lectures on social and economic questions. The societies in the 
University of Chile organize night schools for workingmen, conduct 
a propaganda against alcoholism and tuberculosis, and aid in other 
reforms. The Latin- American student is characteristically idealistic, 
and it is easy to enlist his support in all measures for the betterment 
of society. 

The University Union may do on a larger scale what is done by 
the departmental societies, but its chief purpose is to develop stu- 
dent solidarity and to provide a student center. Any student in 
the institution is eligible for membership and entitled to all the 
privileges of the association. Students in other professional schools 
and boys from the high school above a certain age may also become 
members. Nearly every university has a student clubhouse or at least 
a suite of rooms. In a very few instances the house is the property of 
the association, but usually the quarters are rented. The club (cen- 
tre universitario) contains the offices of the association, a modest 
lunch room, reading room, and library, an amusement room, perhaps 
a small gymnasium, and an assembly room large enough for public 
lectures. The association always publishes a student paper, weekly, 
fortnightly, or monthly, which however, bears little resemblance to 
an American college paper. It is not a newspaper, but a serious 
journal, containing literary and scientific articles, the contributions 
of both students and professors. In the University of Buenos Aires, 
where the departmental societies overshadow the University Union, 
each society publishes its own journal. With its common meeting- 
place, its publication, and its other activities the University Center 
constitutes an important element in student life. It exercises, more- 
over, an important influence on the university itself. The union, or 
the departmental societies, do not hesitate to discuss university 
policies, and to propose plans for the betterment of the institution. 
These proposals may refer to the curriculum or to method of instruc- 
tion, as well as to material matters. It may be that the freedom with 
which the societies undertake such subjects is due to the fact that 
the Latin- American professor is not a teacher by profession, and that 
the student considers his own judgment in matters institutional as 
good as that of the instructor. The fact that the university is com- 
posed almost entirely of professional schools may also explain the 
prevalence of student interference. Whatever the reason, a student 



146 LATIN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

society experiences no sense of embarrassment, and sees nothing in- 
appropriate in recommending changes of curriculum or advocating 
policies that in a North American university would be reserved ex- 
clusively for the faculty and trustees. Nor do professors resent this 
attitude. The university spirit resembles that of the early mediaeval 
universities, when teachers and students formed one body. 

The final step in the student association movement was taken in 
1908 when a federation was formed of all the associations in Latin 
America. In response to an invitation from the society in Uruguay, 
delegates from many universities assembled in Montevideo for the 
first student congress. The meeting was such a success, and a union 
of students from different nations appeared so desirable, that an in- 
ternational organization was effected and a constitution framed. 
Delegates were present from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guate- 
mala, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The statutes of the league 
make every general student society eligible for membership, whether 
from South, Central, or North America. Besides the general meet- 
ings, the congress held departmental meetings under the following 
divisions: Law, medicine, engineering and architecture., agriculture 
and zootechnics, commerce, and secondary studies. Among the 
general topics discussed were: State and private universities, exami- 
nations and exemption from examination, specialization and general- 
ization, uniformity of courses and degrees in American universities, 
student participation in university administration, athletics, scholar- 
ships, etc. 

The league resolved to hold biennial congresses. The second met 
at Buenos Aires in 11)10 and the third at Lima in 1912. The meet- 
ing at Buenos Aires took a further step in perfecting an international 
organization by creating a permanent central bureau which is to keep 
in touch with all local associations, maintain a library of student 
publications, preserve the official records of the league, and arrange 
the program and other details of the biennial congresses. The bureau 
was established at Montevideo under the immediate auspices of the 
Uruguayan association, but the expense of its maintenance is to be 
distributed among the various societies. The importance of the 
league and its central bureau in promoting intellectual sympathies 
throughout the wide area of Latin-America can scarcely be over- 
estimated. A union of effort in educational affairs is certain to have 
an influence on political relations, and international friendships will 
be established between many young men who in the course of time will 
occupy high positions in their respective countries. Students who 
are promoting the league are not unmindful of the general good re- 
sults that may follow, as is shown by the watchword of the con- 
gresses that have already been held : " The illusions of to-day will be 
the realities of to-morrow." 



STUDENT SOCIETIES. 147 

The general league is not the only manifestation of international 
student associations. The University of Bogota, in 1910, called a con- 
gress of students from the three republics that formed the ancieni 
confederacy of Bolivar, namely, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela ; 
and in 1911, on the occasion of the centennial of Venezuela, the Uni- 
versity of Caracas called a similar congress. Both meetings were 
eminently successful and it is proposed to continue the association. 
The universities of Central America have also held a student conven- 
tion at Tegucigalpa. These three leagues correspond to the three 
grand geographical divisions of Latin-America, and each can do 
much good in its own field. However, the general association formed 
in the south will comprise the others and exert the greatest influence. 



INDEX. 



Academic honors, universities, 24. 

Academies, organization and function, 
33-34. 

Agricultural colleges, 105-110; admission 
requirements, 108; courses of study, 
108-109; dissimilarities in organiza- 
tion, 117-118; expenditures, 106. 

Agricultural education, 91-92, 104-114; 
career, 110. 

Agricultural schools, Indian, 113-114; 
normal, 114; physical equipment, 111; 
practical, 111-113; primary, 110. 

Albardi School, Argentina, work, 91-92. 

American Student League, 144. 

Argentina, agricultural normal school, 
114; annual budget, 41; coeducation, 
127; commercial education, 98-99; for- 
eign - language training school, 91; 
higher education, 12, 18; higher normal 
school, 87-88; industrial schools, 119- 
121; law school, 17; medical schools, 
number, 53, 56-57; national normal 
schools, course of study, 72; practical 
school of agriculture, curriculum, 112- 
113; rural schools, 91-92; students en- 
rolled in universities, 21; teachers' col- 
lege, 89-91. 

Argentina, University of, preparatory 
schools, 35. 

Arequipa, University of, founded, 12-13. 
B. 

Bahai, medical school, 13, 40, 57. 

Bar associations, relations existing be- 
tween the law schools, 49. 

Bogota, founding of colonial university, 11. 

Bogota, University of, faculties, 67. 

Bolivia, agricultural college, 106; com- 
mercial education 99; law schools, 16; 
medical schools, 53, 57; professional 
schools, 17. 

Brazil, agricultural colleges, 105: com- 
mercial education, 100-101; dental 
schools, 57; educational progress, 15; 
engineering schools, 16, 61; enrollment 
of law and medical students, 21; indus- 
trial schools, unique type, 124-125; law 
faculties, salaries, 43; medical schools, 
number, 53; professional schools, 13, 
15-16. 



Budgets and salaries, 41-44. 

Buenos Aires, coeducation, 127; college 
of agriculture, 105; engineering school, 
hours of instruction per week, 64; in- 
dustrial school, 121-122; medical li- 
brary, 58; medical school, 14, 39, 57; 
normal schools, teachers' salaries, 77. 

Buenos Aires (Province), coeducation, 
127. 

Buenos Aires, University of, annual 
budget, 42; curriculum of law, 46-47; 
departmental societies, 145; engineer- 
ing school, 62; enrollment, 21; organ- 
ized, 12; professors' salaries, 43; teach- 
ers' college, 89-90. 

Buildings, normal schools, 80-81; univer- 
sities, 38-40. 



Caracas, founding of colonial university, 
11; medical school, 14. 

Catholic University of Chile, work, 67-68. 

Central America, law schools, 16; profes- 
sional education, 16. 

Chile, coeducation, 127; commercial edu- 
cation, 95-97; curricula of medical 
schools, 56; discussion regarding junior 
university, 36; engineering schools, 61; 
high standard of medical profession, 
59; industrial schools, 117-119, 123-124; 
medical schools, duration of studies, 
55-57 ; medical vacation schools, 59 ; na- 
tional normal schools, course of study, 
72; normal schools, teachers' salaries, 
77; nurses' training school, 57; practi- 
cal school of agriculture, curriculum, 
112-113; students enrolled in national 
university, 21. 

Chile, University of, annual budget, 42. 

Chilean Normal College, history, 84. 

Church, The, and colonial universities, 12. 

Church schools, commercial education, 
102. 

Civil engineering, curricula of three 
schools, 63-64. 

Coeducation, status in Latin America, 85, 
126-131. 

Colegio de Nuestra Senora del Rosario, 
work, 66-67. 

Colegio del Rosario, work, 67. 

149 



150 



INDEX. 



Colombia, agricultural college, 105; com- 
mercial education, 101; higher educa- 
tion, 12; medical schools, number, 53; 
national normal schools, course of study, 
73. 

Commercial education, 94-103; Argen- 
tina, 98-99; Bolivia, 99; Brazil, 100- 
101; Chilean system and curriculum, 
95-97; church schools, 102; Colombia, 
101; different systems, 95; general 
status, 103; Mexico, 101; Peru, 101; pri- 
vate colleges, 102; Uruguay, 99. 

Commercial schools, and coeducation, 
130; modern languages, 137-138. 

Commercial studies, high schools, 102. 

Cordoba, engineering school, curriculum, 
63-64; founding of colonial university, 
11. 

Cordoba, University of, professors' sala- 
ries, 43. 

Costa Rica, coeducation, 127. 

Courses of study, agricultural colleges, 
108-109; commerce, 95-99; engineering 
schools, 63-64; industrial schools, 118- 
119; law schools, 46-47, 49-50, 52; nor- 
mal schools, 71-72, 85; practical schools 
of agriculture, 112-113; representative 
medical schools, 56. 

Cuzco, founding of colonial university, 11. 

Cuzco, University of, professors' sala- 



ries, 43. 



i>. 



Degrees, universities, 23-24. 

Dentistry, schools, 57. 



Ecuador, annual budget, 41; coeduca- 
tion, 127; law schools, advisability of 
closing considered, 46; medical schools, 
53, 57; plurality of universities, 17. 

Elementary industrial schools, 116. 

Engineering, education, 19. 

Engineering schools, buildings, 39; class 
and laboratory work, 64; curricula, 
63-64; difficulties, 60-61; enrollment, 
65; material equipment, 61-62; organi- 
zation, 62-63; progress, 115. See also 
under names of countries and cities. 

Enrollment, students, 21-22, 42. 

Escola Polytechnica, Brazil, organiza- 
tion, 16. 

Escuela de Educaci6n Ffsica (Chile), 
manifold activities, 123-124. 



Escuela Superior de Comercio (Santiago, 

Chile), description, 97. 
Examinations, normal schools, 74—75; 

university, 23-24. 
Expenses, students, 42. 



Faculties, university, 22-23. 
Foreign-language training school, Argen- 
tina, 91. 

G. 

Girls, preparatory schools, 35-36. 

Girls High School, Costa Rica, normal 
course, 71. 

Guatemala, coeducation, 127; founding 
of colonial university, 11; medical 
school, 14. 

Guatemala, University of, separate facul- 
ties, 33. 

Guayaquil, University of, number of stu- 
dents and professors, 42; professors' 
salaries, 43. 

H. 

Habana, engineering school, curriculum, 
63-64; founding of colonial university, 
11. 

Higher education, excessive cost, 42. 
See also Universities. 

High schools, commercial studies, 101- 
102. See also Secondary schools. 

Honduras, law school, further matricula- 
tion forbidden, 46. 

Hospital facilities, schools of medicine, 55. 
I. 

Indian schools, agriculture, 113-114. 

Industrial education, 115-125; progress, 
115. 

Industrial schools, buildings, 121; cur- 
ricula, 118-120; elementary, 116; mod- 
ern languages, 137; not coeducational, 
130; patronage, 123; tuition fees and 
scholarships, 120-121; women, 122. 

Institute Agricola (Chile), establishment, 
105. 

Institute Nacional del Profesorado Se- 
cundario (Argentina), curriculum, 88- 
89; equipment, 89; establishment, 87. 

Institute Pedagogico (Chile), building 

and equipment, 86-87 ; general plan, 85. 

J. 

Junior university, Chile, 36; Uruguay, 

36-37. 
Jurisprudence. See Law. 



INDEX. 



151 



L. 

Laboratories, normal schools, 83. 

Laboratory work, better training de- 
manded, 59. 

La Escuela . Normal de Lenguas "Vivas 
(Argentina), work, 91. 

Languages, ancient, study eliminated, 
132-135; modern, study, 136-140. 

La Paz, medical school, building, 39-40. 

La Plata, University of, agricultural 
school, 105; annual budget, 42; build- 
ings and equipment, 39; curriculum of 
law, characteristics, 52; history and 
organization, 18-20; preparatory schools, 
35; teachers' college, 90-91. 

La Sociedade Propagadora das Bellas 
Artes (Brazil), work, 124-125. 

Latin language, normal schools, 86; study 
eliminated, 132-135. 

Law, an aristocratic profession, 45; edu- 
cation, development, 13-14; title of 
graduate, Central America, 23. See 
also Teaching. 

Law, schools, 13, 16, 21; advantages of cur- 
riculum, 51; aims, 47-48; and bar asso- 
ciations, 49; curricula, 46-47; duration 
of studies, 50; equipment and libraries, 
45-46; faculties of Brazil, salaries, 43; 
general culture courses, 49; methods of 
instruction, 50-51; organization, 16, 46; 
practical training minimized, 48-49. 
See also under names and cities. 

Lecture methods, 25. 

Letter of transmittal, 7-8. 

Libraries, medical, 58. 

Lima, founding of colonial university, 11; 
medical school, 14, 40. 

Lima, University of, law school, practical 
training, 49; students enrolled, 21. 

Lyceo de Artes e eficios, description, 124- 
125. 

M. 

Mackenzie College, work, 68-69. 

Manual training schools, girls, 123. 

Medellin, University of, established, 
12-13. 

Medicine, education, 13-14, 16, 21, 53-59; 
practice, regulated by faculty, 54. 

Medicine, schools, curricula, 55-57; dura- 
tion of studies, 56-57; equipment, 
53-54; hospital facilities, 55; modern 
buildings, 38-39; preparation of profes- 
sors, 55; subsidiary, 57; vacation, i 58-59 
well-ordered, 53. 

See also under names of countries and 
cities. 



Methods of instruction, law schools, 50; 
modern languages, 139-140; normal 
schools, 74. 

Mexico, coeducation, 127; commercial 
education, 101; engineering schools, 62; 
founding of colonial university, 11; 
medical schools, number, 53. 

Mexico, University of, annual budget, 42. 

Midwifery, training, 57. 

Modern languages, methods of instruc- 
tion, 139-140. 

Montevideo, agricultural college, cur- 
riculum, 109. 

Montevideo, University of, annual bud- 
get, 42; establishment, 15; professors' 
salaries, 43-44. 

Museums, school, in normal schools, 83. 

N. 

Nicaragua, law schools, 16. 

Non-State institutions, 66-69. 

Normal schools, agricultural, 114; admis- 
sion, 70-71; and coeducation, 130-131 
buildings, 80-81; curricula, 71-74 
equipment, 82-83; examinations, 74-75 
higher, 87-88; laboratories, 83; leasing 
school property, 81 ; methods of instruc- 
tion, 74; modern languages, 137; mu- 
seums, 83; organization and scholar- 
ships, 75-77; personnel, 78-79; practice 
teaching, 80; primary, 83-84; pupils, 
social position, 77-78 ; secretary and pro- 
fessors, 79-80; special, 91; State-owned 
buildings, 81-82; teachers, social posi- 
tion, 77-78. 

Notaries, training, 48. 

Nurses' training school, Chile, 57. 

o. 

O' Graham, Mary, teacher, pensioner of 
Argentine government, 79. 

P. 

Panama, professional education, 16. 

Peru, agricultural college, 105; commer- 
cial education, 101; curricula of medical 
schools, 56; engineering schools, 61; 
higher education, 12; medical schools, 
53, 57; students enrolled in universities, 
21; universities, two coordinate law 
faculties, 46; university faculties, 22. 

Pharmacy, schools, 58. 

Piracicaba (Brazil), agricultural college, 
curriculum, 109. 



152 



INDEX. 



Polytechnic school of Rio de Janeiro, 
founded, 62. 

Porto Alegre, medical school, 15. 

Portuguese-America, training for liberal 
professions, 11. 

Practice schools, 80. 

Prefatory note, 9. 

Preparatory schools, movement in favor, 
35. 

Priests, training, 23. 

Primary agricultural schools, 110. 

Primary normal schools, 83-84. 

Primary school and liceo, 78. 

Professional education, 11-13, 16-17, 19- 
20, 23-24. 

Professional schools, 15-16, 42. 
See also Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Sci- 
ence. 

Professors, appointment, and tenure of 
office, 26-27; appointment, Govern- 
ment confirmation, 31; duties, 28-29; 
foreign, normal schools, 84-85; German, 
normal schools, 87; large staff, in uni- 
versities, 42; medical, preparation, 54- 
55; methods of choosing, 29-31; prestige, 
29; salaries, universities, 43^4; substi- 
stitute, 31. 

Protestant societies, and education, 66. 

Public instruction, encouraged, 66. 

Pupils, normal school, social status, 77-78. 



Recife, law school, 13, 40. 

Restrepo, University of, organization, 
12-13. 

Rio de Janeiro, engineering school, curri- 
culum, 63-64; industrial school, unique 
type, 124-125; medical library, 58; 
medical schools, 13-14, 40; normal 
schools, teachers' salaries, 77. 

Roman Catholic Church, and commercial 
education, 102; and secondary educa- 
tion, 66. 

Rural schools, 91-93. 



Salaries, teachers. See Teachers, salaries; 
Professors, salaries. 

Salesian Brothers and industrial educa- 
tion, 116. 

Salvador, coeducation, 127; medical col- 
lege, 38-39, 57. 



Salvador, University of, separate facul- 
ties, 33. 

San Jose (Costa Rica), law school, curric- 
ulum, 47. 

Santa Catalina, practical school of agri- 
culture, curriculum, 112-113. 

Santa Fe, Argentina, law school, 17. 

Santa Fe, University of, foundation, 16. 

Santiago de Chile, agricultural college, 
curriculum, 109; engineering school, 
hours of instruction per week, 64; found- 
ing of colonial university, 11 ; industrial 
school, unique type, 123; medical li- 
brary, 58; medical schools, duration of 
studies, 57; practical school of agricul- 
ture, curriculum, 112-113. 

Santiago de Chile, Catholic University of, 
architecture and engineering, 61; law 
faculty, 49. 

Santiago de Chile, University of, pro- 
fessors' salaries, 43; separate faculties, 
33. 

Santo Domingo, founding of colonial uni- 
versity, 11. 

Sao Paulo, law school, curriculum, 13, 47. 

Scholarships, normal schools, 75-77. 

School museums, 83. 

School textbooks, animosity to, 141-142; 
a needed reform, 142-143. 

Schools of commerce. See Commercial 
education. 

Science, teaching, 14, 16, 19, 74. 

Secondary education and Roman Catholic 
Church, 66. 

Secondary schools, relation between the 
university and, 34-35; status, 22; 
teachers, 84 ; teaching modern languages ; 
138. 

Spanish America, training in liberal pro- 
fessions, 11. 

Spanish settlements, advantages of higher 
education, 11. 

Special education, 70-125. 

Stearns, G. A., founder of normal school 
of Parana, 79. 

Student societies, 144-147. 

Students, enrollment, 21-22, 42; expenses, 
42; studies and degrees, 21-25. 

Studies. See Courses of study. 

Sucre, founding of colonial university, 11. 

Sucre, University of, separate faculties, 
33. 



INDEX. 



153 



Teachers, commercial education, 97; large 
teaching staff in universities, 42: normal 
schools, 78-80; salaries, normal schools, 
77; secondary schools, 84. 
See also Professors. 

Teachers' college, University of Buenos 
Aires, 89-90. 

Teachers' college, University of La Plata, 
90. 

Teaching, hours per week, 37, 42; not a 
distinct profession, 27-28. 

Textbooks, animosity to, 141-142; a 
needed reform, 142-143; medical, 58. 

Theology, almost eliminated in universi- 
ties, 22-23; faculty of, 12. 

Trade schools,' equipment and students, 
117. 

Trades, training for, 116-117. 

Trujillo, University of, organized, 12-13. 



Universities, 11-69; administration, 32; 
buildings, 38-40; budgets and salaries, 
41-^4; coeducation in, 128-129; de- 
centralization, 31-32; departments scat- 
tered, 32; founding, 11-20; organization, 
26-37; reasons for multiplication, 16-18. 

Uruguay, coeducation, 127-128; commer- 
cial education, 99; engineering schools, 
61; junior university, 36-37; medical 
college, modern equipment, 38, 40. 

Uruguay, University of, early history, 15. 
V. 

Vacation schools, medical, 58-59. 
Venezuela, curricula of medical schools, 
56; medical schools, number, 53. 

w. 

Women, industrial schools, 122-123; State 
universities open to, 128-129. 



o 



$ 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

(Continued from p. 2 of cover.) 

No. 6. Graduate work in mathematics in universities. 

No. 7. Undergraduate work in mathematics in colleges and universities. 

No. 8. Examinations in mathematics. 

No. 9. Mathematics in technological schools of collegiate grade. 

No. 10. Bibliography of education for 1909-10. 

No. 11. Bibliography of child study for the years 1908-9. 

No. 12. Training of teachers of elementary and secondary mathematics. 

No. 13. Mathematics in elementary schools. 

No. 14. Provision for exceptional children in the public schools. 

No. 15. The educational system of China as recently reconstructed. II. E. King. 

No. 16. Mathematics in public and private secondary schools. 

No. 17. List of publications of United States Bureau of Education, October, 1911. 

No. 18. Teachers' certificates (laws and regulations). Harlan Updegraff. 

No. 19. Statistics of State universities, etc., 1910-11. 

1912. 

Jo. 1. Course of study for rural school teachers. Fred Mutchler and W. J. Craig. 
No. 2. Mathematics at West Point and Annapolis. _ 

No/ 3. Report of committee on uniform records and reports. 
No. 4. Mathematics in technical secondary schools. 
No. 5. A study of expenses of city school systems. Harlan Updegraff . 
No. 6. Agricultural education in secondary schools. 
No. 7. Educational status of nursing. M. Adelaide Nutting. 
No. 8. Peace day. Fannie F. Andrews. 
No. 9. Country schools for city boys. William Starr Myers. 
No. 10. Bibliography of education in agriculture and home economics. 
No. 11. Current educational topics, No. I. 

No. 12. Dutch schools of New Netherland and colonial New York. W. H. Kilpatrick. 
No. 13. influences tending to improve the work of the teacher of mathematics. 
No. 14. Report of the American commissioners on the teaching of mathematics. 
No. 15. Current educational topics, No. II. 
No. 16. The reorganized school playground. Henry S. Curtis. 
No. 17. The Montessori system of education. Anna Tolman Smith. 
No. 18. Teaching language through agriculture and domestic science. M. A. Leiper. 
No. 19. Professional distribution of college and university graduates. B. B. Burritfc. 
No. 20. Readjustment of a rural high school to needs of the community. H. A. Brown. 
No. 21. Urban and rural common school statistics. H. Updegraff and W. R. Hood. 
No. 22. Public and private high schools. 

No. 23. Special collections in libraries. W. D. Johnston and Isadore G. Mudge. 
No. 24. Current educational topics, No.. Ill, 

No. 25. List of publications of the United States Bxireau of Education, 1912. 
No. 26. Bibliography of child study for the years 1910-11. 
No. 27. History of public-school education in Arkansas. S. B. Weeks. 
No. 28. Cultivating school grounds in Wake County, N. C. Zebulon Judd. 
No. 29. Bibliography of the teaching of mathematics, 1900-1912. 
No. 30. Latin-American universities and special schools. Edgar Ewing Brandon. 





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